The Defender
by Pas de place pour l'ignorance
Summary: Alexis Valeria Bextor is found in the woods by Daryl Dixon and he takes her to the camp. How will she change the people in the camp and how will the camp change her? Takes place after the explosion of the CDC and before the group arrives to the Greene farm. This story doesn't follow the original storyline that much but has few similarities. Daryl/OC
1. Chapter 1: He found me

It had been five days with no proper food or water but it felt like weeks and it really started to take its toll on me. I hadn't eaten anything since the raspberries I had discovered yesterday evening and that wasn't a lot but it was everything I had found. Hunting was out of question since I knew nothing about hunting and I had no weapons suitable for it. I only had a knife I had found from some cabin I had stayed in two nights ago and my messenger bag full of my personal items which were useless nowadays. There was absolutely no use for an iPhone, money or anything else that used to matter in the world. I could feel the tears of desperation sliding down my cheeks as I crouched down next to the roots of a huge fallen tree.

Everyone was dead now because of _the things_, the zombies. I had seen my sister and her husband get eaten alive by them and there had been nothing to do. My dad and I had escaped the scene as fast as we could after the screaming had stopped. Tears were falling faster and faster, making wet spots appear to the knees of my forest green cargo pants as I went through the horror of the past few weeks. I wiped the tears away with the back of my hand messing up the little make up I had put on days ago. I clenched my left fist and bit it, trying to muffle the sound of my sobbing. Even though I had nothing, no parents, no family, no friends, it didn't mean I wouldn't want to keep living instead of ending up zombie food. I started to get up from my hiding place as I heard a small noise, like a footstep. I quickly ducked down under the same roots. I waited for at least 5 minutes and nothing happened. I let out a relieved sigh and stood back up.

I looked down at my shirt and pulled it lower. It was a little too small but it was the only reasonable shirt I had found from the cabin after I had gotten my own shirt dirty after killing a zombie with a brick. As I raised my head back up I heard something behind me. I turned around at the same time as I pulled out the knife from my belt and held it in front of me my hands trembling. All I could see at the moment was an arrow pointed straight into my face. I backed up dropping my knife and hit my back to a nearby tree. My eyes focused on the person holding the black crossbow. He was tall and looked angry. His light brown hair was messy and he was covered with dirt and leaves.

"Ya been bit?" He asked. He was definitely from around here according to his southern accent.

"No! Don't shoot me, please!" I replied sliding down the tree. Soon I was sitting on the ground my arms around my knees. The man lowered his crossbow and glanced at me.

"Git up." He ordered as he started to walk away picking up a dark lump from the ground. I squinted my eyes trying to see what it was. _Maybe he's a murderer and is disposing a body_! I felt the panic rise and the adrenaline kicking in preparing me to run for my life. I slowly stood up leaning to the tree as he turned around slowly motioning at me with his crossbow. "Ya comin'?" He asked. I could now see that the lump was a dead deer. I felt so relived I wanted to laugh. Like come on, if he were a killer he would've killed me already. I stood up and started to walk towards him. He threw something at me and I caught it. It was a bunch of dead squirrels tied together by their tails. I felt like throwing up but I acted strong and held them away from my clothes and followed the stranger in complete silence.

* * *

After about an hour I started to get nervous again. The uncomfortable quietness was messing with my head. I picked up his speed and placed my hand on his arm. He turned around unbelievably fast dropping the deer and pointing his bow at me.

"Never do that again, woman!" He snarled angrily and dropped the bow down after he saw my shocked face. "What is it?"

"I… I just wanted to know where we're heading." I said quietly staring at the arrow in his palm. I really needed to be more careful around him. He threw the deer on his shoulder again and started to walk.

"There's a camp 15-25 minutes from here depending on how slow ya are. We've got couple survivors there. Come on, we don't have the entire day to just stand here." He replied as I kept following him through the woods.

Just like he had said, 15 minutes later we approached a campsite, which was full of cars and tents. It was wonderful to see that many people after being alone in the woods for days. Many curious pairs of eyes followed the man and I closely as he demanded me to pass the squirrels and walked away leaving me alone next to a big and old RV. I looked around seeing a young boy on the other side of the car. He was wearing that type of hat sheriffs wear, or wore, before the world went shit.

"Oh dear! How did you end up here? Let me come down and I'll get the others!" An elder man called from the roof of the RV. He was sitting there on a lawn chair holding a shotgun. "Maybe I am too old for keeping watch." He chuckled as he climbed down. "I didn't see you coming. I'm Dale Horvath and this is our camp and this here," he said patting the hood of the RV "Is my home. So, how did you find here?" The man asked taking off his hat.

"I was brought in by a man. Didn't catch his name but he was dirty and had a crossbow…" I began but was interrupted by a woman.

"That had to be Daryl, Daryl Dixon. He's our hunter." I turned around to see a really skinny woman with white short, and by short I mean really short hair. "I'm Carol Peletier and this is my daughter Sophia."

"I'm Alexis Valeria Bextor, nice to meet you all." I replied smiling at the little girl why was standing next to her mother. The woman motioned me to follow her and soon I had met everyone at the camp. There was Rick Grimes who seemed to be the leader of the group, his wife Lori, a tall and beautiful brunette and then there was their son Carl who had been the kid wearing the sheriff's hat. I met T-dog who seemed like good guy and Andrea who also seemed nice but had a little tomboy act going on. I could see she wasn't that into having new people around. I had also met Glenn, an Asian guy who I liked instantly. I knew we could be great friends. Last one I met was Shane. He was strongly built and he had short buzz cut hair that went together with his clothes that were a little army-like. They all demanded to know my story so as some of them gutted the squirrels I sat down next to them and told them how my sister's wedding ceremony was attacked by some zombies and how my dad and I were able to escape together. We had ran to the forest and came across with a house which we raided since there wasn't anyone. About a week after that a zombie got my dad and I was alone in the woods until Daryl had found me.

* * *

The darkness had arrived and the only light was the fire Andrea had started for Carol to cook the squirrels Daryl had caught earlier. I hadn't seen him since he disappeared after leaving me to the others. I wanted to tell him how grateful I was and I was getting a little worried. I tried to ignore the bad feeling since everyone else was okay with his absence. As I was thinking about Daryl Dixon I was handed one of the squirrels I had carried in in the woods. I stared at it with disgust but since it was the only food I had, I bit into it. It wasn't that bad after all I had to admit after the first bite.

"It's no minute steak but better than nothing." Carol said smiling as she started at me.

"No, no! You have no idea how good this is after nearly starving to death in the woods." I replied returning the smile and taking another bite. She was still smiling as she stood up and walked to a bucket and dropped her plate and fork into it. She took Sophia's hand in hers and announced she's off to bed. Everyone said their goodbyes and then everyone fell quiet. Only noise in the dark was the sound of the cracking fire and random munching of the people eating. Soon they struck up a conversation about CDC and how it had been a disappointment. I had no idea what they were talking about so I turned to Lori and asked her if I could wash up somewhere. I hadn't cleaned up myself for days and I had started to disgust even myself. Lori stood up and walked to her tent giving me some spare clothes, a towel and an electric lantern and walked me to a small lake.

"This is it! Our luxury shower" She joked as I placed the clothes on a rock. "Here's some shampoo and conditioner for you as well as some body soap. Take your time but watch out for the walkers."

"Walkers?" I asked.

"The walking dead, the zombies." She replied and started to walk away. "I'll be by the fire waiting for you." And with that she disappeared to the darkness. I took a look at the clothes and saw a pair of black skinny jeans, green tank top, underwear and on top of them the toiletries. I started to pull off my shirt and dropped it to the ground as I heard a rustling sound from my left. I grabbed my knife and the lantern and pointed them at the intruder. I was met with a pair of blue eyes and messy hair. I could make up his facial features thanks to the bluish moonlight reflecting from the lake and the lantern I was holding.

"Jesus, woman!" He said as he came completely out of the woods. I wrapped my arms in front of me trying to protect my half naked chest from his eyes. "Yer crazy if ya think 'bout skinny dippin' in the dark alone." He continued as he walked closer.

"What's that supposed to mean?" I asked warily when he was only few feet from me. He sat down to the rock where my clothes were piled and faced away from the lake.

"I'll keep watch. Hand me the lantern and go ahead." He replied. I understood what he meant and I realised how stupid I had been when I hadn't asked anyone to keep watch. I gave him the lantern over his shoulder and started to strip down my jeans. My eyes stayed focused on his back. As I was positive that he wasn't trying anything funny I took off rest of my clothes and stepped into the lake. It was just the right temperature. Soon I was neck deep in the water and dived to get my hair wet. As I surfaced I realised I had left the soaps by the rock. Awkwardly I cleared my throat trying to get Daryl's attention. Nothing. I tried again and this time he turned around a little, his side facing me.

"Yea?" He asked leaning to his knees.

"Could you pass me the soap and shampoo?" I pleaded quietly.

"Sure." He responded throwing the bag at me. He turned back around and allowed me to finish washing my long red hair.

Five minutes later I was standing by the rock wrapped in a towel.

"Thank you." I said before he turned around.

"It was nothin', just sum soaps." He responded standing up.

"No, thank you for saving me. If you hadn't been there and took me with you I'd probably be walker food by now. So, thanks Daryl." His face stayed expressionless as he handed me the lantern.

"Yer turn to return the favor." He replied starting to unbutton his sleeveless button up.

"Excuse me?" I stuttered as he walked past me dropping his shirt to the ground next to mine.

"Ya stay on guard? If ya see or hear anythin' strange just call my name." I stared at him open mouthed -and relieved- but turned around as I saw his hands moving to his belt buckle.

"Yeah! Sure! I will!" I responded as I sat down to the rock. I started to pull up the panties Lori gave me, still holding the towel around me. I didn't want to give the man a private show. Soon I was dressed and I wrapped the towel around my damp hair.

"Hey girl" Daryl yelled from the lake. I turned my head at him and couldn't help but admire his toned arms and chest. I think I even saw few tattoos but it was hard to tell because of the lack of light. "What's yer name?"

"Alexis Valeria Bextor." I responded staring at him. He chuckled a little and I believe I looked kind of lost because he explained.

"Alexis means 'a defender' and Valeria means 'strong'. Ironic much? Yer parents did have hopes for yer future."

"Hey!" I yelled as he kept chuckling as he bathed in the lake. Suddenly I heard a twig break on my right and I screamed.

* * *

**Author's note:**

I have this bad habit of starting new stories before completing the old ones... but I've wanted to write a Daryl/OC fiction for so long and now I finally got something written! I hope that you guys like this so I'm going to sleep tonight with my fingers crossed.


	2. Chapter 2: He wants to get rid of me?

I screamed and I screamed and I screamed as the walker started to close the distance between us. It made it's way with wobbly steps and groaned while coming closer. I grabbed my knife from the ground and hit it straight in between of it's eyes. I pulled the knife out and as the walker fell down I stabbed its head repeatedly until I was sure it was dead, well, more dead that before. I sat down to the ground and wrapped my arms around my knees.

Daryl was still in the lake but had came closer as I started to scream but I was faster that he was. He grabbed his towel from the rock and wrapped it around him behind my back.

"Ya okay?" He asked as he inspected the body in front of me.

"Yeah… I had to take down few of these when I was in the woods." He nodded and took my knife, rinsing it in the lake before handing it back. I raised my eyes from the dead walker as Rick and Shane came running from the camp.

"What the hell happened?" Rick asked before he saw the walker lying on the ground. "Oh…" He continued as Shane came closer and inspected the walker like Daryl had done just seconds ago.

"This is why we should leave to Fort Benning! We can't just be sitting ducks here! Even though this place looks beautiful with the woods and the lake this is dangerous as hell!" Shane yelled as he faced Rick who looked guilty.

"I know. I think we should pack up tomorrow. Maybe we aren't this lucky next time a stray walker comes by." Rick glanced at me worriedly and combed through his hair with his fingers. "Are you hurt?" He continued stepping closer to me over the walker.

"No… I'm fine. Just a little shocked." I responded truthfully and stood up from the ground.

"That's good." He replied taking a step back.

"I think that we should dump the body to the woods outside of the camp, double the night watch and then leave tomorrow morning towards Fort Benning." Rick said and stared at the walker.

"Sounds good. I'll get my gear and stay up all night." Daryl responded. He had pulled his pants on while the rest of us were staring at the walker.

"No, you've been in the woods for few days!" Rick replied. "You take care of the walker and we'll have Andrea and Glenn keep watch."

I could see Daryl's expression darken. I bet he wasn't used to being ordered around but he didn't disagree. He gave Rick and Shane a little nod and pulled his dirty flannel shirt back on.

"We'll go to the camp and tell everyone what happened and then tomorrow we'll leave." Shane said as he and Rick left us by the walker.

"Daryl…" I said as Rick and Shane were out of sight. He turned to face me. His facial expression was still between angry and, well, scary as fuck. "Never mind…" I continued but he interrupted me.

"Grab the legs and I'll take the head. And take yer knife with ya. We ain't taking changes." He said as he slung the crossbow over his shoulder and walked to the other side of the zombie. He leaned down and grabbed the walker from its shoulders and arms giving me a look. "Ya awake, woman?"

"Sure, sorry!" I responded as I took its legs and we started to make our way to the woods.

* * *

Back at the camp people were restless as Daryl and I walked to the RV after I'd washed the walker blood off me. Rick and Shane had obviously told the rest of the camp about the intruder. _Usual police work, trying not to get people panicking but ending up with a group of paranoid people. Just so typical,_ I thought as Glenn came to me and gave me a bone-crushing hug. I heard Daryl snort next me but decided to ignore his reaction.

"Are you okay?" Glenn asked worriedly as he unwrapped his arms around me.

"I am! Why do people keep repeating that?" I asked rhetorically but with a smile.

"I'm so glad you're fine!" He replied smiling at me.

"I heard you're on watch for the night?"

"Yeah… I am… Oh! Have you got a place to sleep in? Since I'm on the watch my tent's free." He said and pointed at his tent close to us.

"No I don't have but that sounds great! I don't want to intrude though…" I replied smiling.

"Ya ain't sleepin' alone in a tent!" Daryl said next to me making Glenn and I stare at him.

"Daryl…?" I began but he just stomped off to his tent to the other side of the camp leaving Glenn and I alone by the RV. "What was that?" I asked Glenn as he stared after the hunter.

"Don't ask me. He's strange." He replied. "But yeah, you sleeping in my tent, Alexis?"

"Why not!" I replied smiling as I wrapped my arm around his shoulder. "Roomies!" I called with an exaggerated enthusiasm. Glenn just laughed and walked me to his tent.

* * *

It was still dark when I woke up. The only sound I could hear through the thin tent fabric was the wind and the quiet chatter of Andrea and Rick. They had already started to pack up the camp. I pulled on one of the hoodies I assumed was Glenn's and got out of the tent. Even though it was still summer the mornings were surprisingly chilly. I wrapped my arms around myself and walked towards them.

"We'll get this side of the camp packed to the Hyundai, that part over there" Rick said pointing at the back of the camp." That part will be packed to the RV and the rest to the bed of Daryl's truck. Rest of the stuff will be packed to Carol's Cherokee."

"Hey." I said as I walked to them. Both of them turned around and greeted me. "What time are we leaving?"

"As soon as the Sun rises we'll start packing and leave when everything is done. You can start taking down the tent already if you wish." Rick answered placing his arms to his hips.

"I can do that." I replied smiling as I walked back to Glenn's tent and started to fill his bag with the clothes spread around the floor. I heard the sound of the zipper and glanced up to see Glenn.

"I'll do that. I think I'll have a little nap and finish packing then. You can go see if Carol and Lori need help with the breakfast. They should be by the fire by now."

"Sure…" I replied getting out and left Glenn alone so he could have his nap.

* * *

I wasn't that into helping out Lori and Carol. I've never been a domestic goddess. Not even close! Every single egg I had tried to boil ended up broken and every pancake turned black. Luckily I was ordered to boil the tea water. There was no way I could mess that up.

Soon everyone, except for Glenn and Andrea, were up and having breakfast. People were chatting about the future, trying to figure out what kind of a place Fort Benning would be like.

"There will be a helicopter." Carl said as he bit down to an apple. "And a big yard."

"I hope there's horses!" Sophia added in a dreamy tone. It was unreal how positive the kids had stayed in the post-apocalyptic world, which was basically a living hell. Carol smiled at the kids and handed Sophia the last piece of apple from her plate and got up. She started doing the dishes as I started to eat. I saw Daryl sitting alone on a lawn chair so I walked to him and sat down to the ground by his chair.

"Sup?" I asked as I glanced up at him. He just grunted in return and I frowned. He definitely wasn't a morning person. "Have you already packed your stuff?" I continued in the hope of striking up a conversation.

"None of yer business." He responded drinking his water.

"Come on! I have nothing to do and I'd like to lend you a hand." I said hitting his knee playfully with my fist.

"Need no help." He said as he stood up and walked to his tent. What the fuck was with this man? One day he's laughing and almost nice, the next he's colder than the winter of North Pole. Against my better judgment I decided to follow him.

I stood by his tent and started to pull the zipper down only to meet a really angry Dixon.

"Seriously, woman? What do I need to do to get rid of you?" He said as I stepped into his tent that made Glenn's tent look like one of those sell at toy stores for 19.99 dollars.

"Wow! This looks nice!" I stated as he started to take down the electric lantern in the middle of the ceiling. I got no reply so I decided to busy myself by folding his sleeveless button ups and stuffing them into his bag. I felt his eyes on me but he said nothing. Soon we had all of the stuff packed and we sat there only his belongings separating us.

"Thanks." He muttered under his breath as he left the tent after taking his bags with him and started to take down the tent.

"Hey!" I protested as the tent started to fall on me. I got out of the tent fast and I could see a small smile forming to his lips from the corner of my eye but as I turned my eyes to him it was already gone and it was replaced by the earlier broody look.

* * *

Piling the stuff to the cars had taken a little more time than Rick had assumed but after about three hours we were ready to leave. The men were planning the route by Shane's car and I was playing with the kids. The only thing I knew about children was that it's better be on their right side. Nothing was worse than getting picked on by a child. I surely had experience after being the youngest one of the family. I was the ultimate trickster so I knew the moves and tricks they could pull off.

"Listen up!" Shane called and got everyone's attention. "We're heading to the highway since there will be cars we can check for supplies. First we need to head towards Atlanta and then we'll have about 140 miles to go until we'll reach Fort Benning. We'll set the camp for few days. We'll gather supplies, hunt etc. and then we'll travel as long as we can until setting the camp back up." People listened carefully what Shane had to say and soon Rick stepped up.

"We'll travel in a caravan, one car after another. If there's a problem just honk once and everyone will stop. Okay?" He said as people nodded and walked to his car. Everyone was walking to their cars as I scanned through them. The only car with enough room to fit one more person was Daryl's and I wasn't that interested in traveling in the same car with him. That would mean awkward silence. But since I had no other option I walked towards his truck and got in while he was staring at me.

"What do I need to do to get rid of ya?" He repeated from the morning as he started the engine of his truck.

"You were the one who found me so you're stuck with me, like it or not!" I responded. Daryl glanced at me.

"For once I try to do the right thing and this is what I get…" he mumbled and started to follow Carol's Cherokee. I leaned to the window and propped my legs straight after taking my boots off. My feet didn't quite reach the side of Daryl's thigh so being short came in rather handy.

"Ya sure 'bout that, woman?" he asked as he glanced at my feet next to him.

"Living on the edge, dude! Once you've started it, there's no turning back." I replied and started to poke the radio with my toes.

"Hey, hey, hey! Git yer foot off my stuff!" He ordered and pushed my foot back to the seat. "Yer a grown woman! How are you even?" He asked. I was taken back by his sudden interest in my life but I answered him.

"Nineteen."

"Nineteen? Ya sure? Ya look hell of a lot older." He answered and glanced at me.

"Ouch! Don't mention me that when I'm your age. It might hurt my feelings…" I replied back at him earning another glare from the hunter.

"Yer callin' me old?" He asked and kept his eyes glued to the road and the cars in front of us.

"No, just older than me. How old are you anyway?" I asked as he was still staring at the road.

"Thirty-six." He muttered not paying further attention to me.

"Oh, you _are _old…" I answered in a mocking way and kicked his right thigh.

"Keep yer midget sized legs away if ya don't wanna lose 'em."

"You wouldn't…" I answered staring at him from the other side of the bench.

"No, I wouldn't."

* * *

**A/N**

I am supposed to be revising for my exam week, which starts on Monday with biology. Oh how much do I love the very detailed info on DNA, RNA and chromosomes… and not to mention the upcoming math exam. I am doomed.

Anyhow, here it is, the next chapter! I believe that I'm going to update _Saving Grace_ next during the next week and then after I've done that I'll start working on the next chapter of this story.

Thank you so much for the reviews, likes and subscriptions!

-Oona


	3. Chapter 3: He taught me

After a while I had dozed off and woke up when Daryl slammed the breaks.

"What happened?" I asked as I sat up and saw the caravan of cars stop in front of us.

"The fuckin' RV is dead again. Get out princess, we're gonna go see what's goin' on." I couldn't help but smile slightly as he called me a princess. Who said chivalry was dead?

I stepped out just after Daryl and walked to the RV with him. We could see Dale doing something under the hood of the car. I walked over and took a look. I smiled slightly as I got the knife from my belt and pushed Dale slightly away from the car. It was just a broken radiator hose. I cut the broken piece of the hose with my knife and attached the remaining piece back to the machine.

"That should do the trick." I replied and started to walk back to the light blue truck of Daryl's. He followed soon after me.

"What the fuck?" He asked as he got into the car.

"What?" I asked as I laid my legs back to the worn leather bench. He just stared at me so I figured I'd better reply. "I had a summer job at my father's friend's garage. I learnt a lot from the men there. I'm a quick and eager learner." Daryl was still staring at me quietly but I could see that he caught my little pun that was actually intended. "And yes, I'm a girl. You may stop staring." With that he turned his eyes away from me and started the car.

* * *

After 20 minutes of awkward silence the cars in front of us stopped again. Daryl hit his palm to the steering wheel and cursed.

"What again?" He said as we saw people getting out of the cars and starting to form a group. I glanced at Daryl who was already getting out of the car.

"We need to clear the road. Get the gas from the cars along with the possible useful things and then just push them off the road. If you find a car better than yours just take it." Rick ordered.

"Can I get my own car?" I asked as Rick finished. He looked at me and nodded after a while. I thanked him with a smile and took off to a nice black old school Chevy Impala. It was just like my father's back in Chicago had been. With a few quick movements the car roared and I let out a satisfied laugh and turned off the engine. "Mine!" I called as I got out of the car. Glenn declared he'd ride with me.

* * *

Few hours later we had gotten enough gas for miles and miles stocked to the bed of Daryl's truck in labeled canisters we had found from some van. Dale had collected some spare parts from the broken abandoned cars and the others, including me, had gone through the cars looking for stuff that may be needed in the future. My collection was poor. I had only found some painkillers, a small handgun, a teddy bear for Sophia and a suitcase full of clothes, which would fit me. My Impala was now full with stuff people had changed to mine from Daryl's since his was ideal for the canisters of gas and water. In my car were also the tent and air mattress T-dog had found and some canisters full of water that didn't fit to the other cars. I had had some time so I had tested some cars we moved out of the way and I marked them with few notes so if anyone else who found the cars would know which ones run.

I walked to Daryl's car to get my bag. As I opened the door I was greeted with a sight of brooding Dixon.

"What's wrong? Don't get your panties in a twist! You got rid of me just like you wanted." I said half smiling as I picked up my bag and shut the door. "You may even be allowed to get a test drive!" I yelled through the window as I started to walk to the Impala where Glenn was already waiting for me. Daryl looked amused so I was sure that he had heard me.

I opened the door on the driver's side and got into the car and Glenn asked if I had an iPhone.

"Why? It's not like they're apocalypse-proof or anything. It's not some sort of a magic phone you can use to order a pizza or something right now. But yeah, I have one." I replied as Glenn stared at me confused.

"I found this…" He said getting a little cord out of the glove compartment.

"Oh! Nice one! This car had really been brought to the modern world." I said as gave him my phone and he plucked it on and soon all of the familiar songs from my phone blasted out through the speakers. "This is perfect…" I stated as I started to follow the caravan, driving just after Daryl.

* * *

It was getting dimmer and dimmer and we knew that it would be dark very soon. We pulled over to the side of the road and started to plan what to do. One thing was sure. We weren't going to move anymore. We just had to decide where to sleep. People were giving options including sleeping in the deserted cars or that we should set up the tents somewhere in the woods. Finally after a rather long and pointless argument it was decided that the abandoned cars or our own ones would be the best options. People started to volunteer for the night watch and I decided to be a one too. It was the time for me to actually do something helpful for the group.

My turn was the first one. I yawned as other campers were sleeping and I was sitting on a rock by the road, leaning to the side of the RV. I heard quiet footsteps coming closer and I used my flashlight to blind the person or walker who was trying to surprise me.

"God damnit! Yer tryin' do turn me blind?" I could hear Daryl complain as he walked next to me rubbing and squinting his eyes.

"I'm so sorry! I didn't know it was you!" I defended myself as he sat down to the ground next to me.

"Ya shouldn't be alone here in the dark." He muttered as he leant back to the RV.

"I think I am capable to handle this. For a reminder I did survive alone for days in the woods. All alone with no guns, only my knife." I responded gripping the shotgun Shane had given me tighter and starting to aim random shapes in the distance.

"But that ain't fair." He responded just sitting there. Not making any attempt to leave.

"You should go to bed, Daryl." I said as I yawned again and glanced at him.

"Nah, I can manage with little sleep. I'll stay up with ya. Just in case. I don't think ya'll be able to stay up long enough." He said as he picked up his cross bow from the ground and started to fiddle with an arrow. "I'm pretty sure that you don't even know how to use the gun." Daryl added nodding at the shotgun I was holding. I gave him a puzzled look and he just snorted. "Yer holdin' it wrong." I stared at the shotgun in my hand and then back at Daryl. He came closer to me. "Yer gonna get bruised if ya shoot like that. Stand up." He commanded standing up himself too. I gave him a funny look but complied. He pushed me away from the rock and turned me so I was facing the woods and he stood behind me.

"Daryl..?"

"Shh… Just bring the shotgun up." I did so and held it on my eye level.

"Like this?" I asked.

"Definitely not… Yer gonna get yer face bruised." He replied and started to move the gun in my hands. "Hold it tightly to your shoulder and make sure it's in the line with yer cheek." He put down his hands after he was done with readjusting my pose. "Just like that." He said as he sat down to the ground again, leaning to the side of the RV.

"Thanks." I said as I sat back down and placed the shotgun next to me. I was glad that it was dark so he couldn't see me blushing. I had always had a thing for men who knew how to handle a gun.

We didn't talk for the rest of my watch. We didn't need to. The silence between us wasn't uncomfortable at all like I had suspected it would be. I was kind of relieved to have Daryl there with me. Even though I had taken down few walkers before I was still unsure about it even though I never said it out loud. My shift was starting to be over so I stood up and started to walk to the car Glenn was sleeping in. I woke him up and handed him the shotgun I had earlier and sat down to the air mattress Glenn had filled for me. I started to unbutton my shirt and let it slip past my shoulders as the door was opened.

"I…" Daryl muttered as he turned around. "Get yer clothes on…" He added.

"What's with you walking in on me when I'm not decent?" I asked as I pulled on my nightgown. "I'm now dressed." I stated giving him a permission to turn around.

"I just wanted to give you this." He said handing me an old looking handgun. "It was Merle's, my brother's. Just take it."

"Thank you…" I said as he placed it next to me.

"See ya tomorrow and good night." He said as he turned around and closed the door not staying long enough to hear my reply. I closed my eyes and pulled the gun closer to my mattress and I immediately felt safer. Soon I fell asleep and didn't even wake up when Glenn got back to the mattress next to mine and started to snore.

* * *

The sun was shining when I got up. Glenn had already woken up since his bed was empty and the door of the van was open. I closed it and got dressed into the clothes from last night. I got out of the van after I tucked the gun Daryl gave me to the back of my jeans. I stepped out into the warmth of the Georgia air and stretched holding my arms above my head. I could hear few cracks coming from my spine. I dropped my arms and did my hair, wrapping it to a messy bun on top of my head, red strands of hair falling out here and there. I could instantly see Dale siting on top of the RV in his lawn chair. He quickly greeted me with a wave and opened his mouth.

"Oh you're up already! Daryl said you were really tired yesterday night so we let you sleep longer."

"He did?" I asked confused. I hadn't been around that long but I already knew that Daryl was an outcast and the lone wolf, rarely speaking to anyone even though he seemed to be the one keeping the group alive by hunting and protecting.

"Yes, he did." Dale chuckled and continued his watch.

I walked to Carol who was already pouring me a cup of tea.

"Thank you Carol." I said as I took the tea and smiled at the woman. "Do you know where Daryl is?" I asked trying to be discreet but by the look on her face I knew my ulterior motive had been detected.

"He's hunting. He left early in the morning but he'll be back soon." She responded still smiling.

"Okay" I answered and accepted the sandwich she was offering me. I thanked her again and left to help the others with raiding the abandoned vehicles.

* * *

After few hours the sun was completely up and it was shining so bright that we decided to stop our work for a while. I was laying on the grass my eyes closed and my bright pink top, which I had found from the suitcase, pulled up to the half way of my stomach. I could feel the sun getting blocked so I opened my eyes seeing a really dirty Daryl standing above me holding a large deer on his shoulder.

"Mornin'." He stated simply before he started to walk to the side of the road to start gutting the animal. I started to get up but instead of actually standing up I decided to lean to my arms and watch Daryl as he worked his knife skillfully around the dead animal. I could see that he was concentrating by the way his tongue was pressed to the side of his bottom lip and the way his eyes squinted. "What are ya starin' at, little girl?" He asked not taking his eyes off the deer.

"Alexis! Could you come here?" I heard Glenn call me and thanked him in my mind before taking off to him. Apparently we were about to start raiding the cars again.

* * *

This time my catch was slightly bigger than yesterday. I found a stock of canned foods including meat and fruits, more painkillers, hygiene products and ammo that were, according to Shane, perfect for some riffle we had and then I also found few canisters of water.

For the rest of the day my interaction with Daryl was nonexistent. I could catch him looking at me from the other side of the camp and vice versa, but no words were exchanged between us. I started to feel like I had done something wrong. My thoughts were soon interrupted as I saw Andrea sitting next to me.

"Hi." She said. During the past two days I'd really hit it off with her since we were paired for the raids. She no longer acted like I was a risk to the group and just another extra mouth to feed.

"Hey." I responded as I went through the bag of clothes I had found yesterday. There were several clothes that were way too big for me because of my height. "You want these jeans?" I asked as I held up a pair of black, ripped skinny jeans.

"Sure, why not. I think they'll fit me." She replied taking the pants from me. "Trouble in the paradise?" She asked as she caught me staring at Daryl, who was pushing a car off the road with T-dog and Glenn.

"What? No, no, no, there's no paradise in this post-apocalyptic world." I replied not taking my eyes of the man wearing the flannel shirt with the sleeves ripped off. I could see his muscles flexing as he pushed the car and motioned Glenn to turn the steering wheel. Something about that man just felt so right. Normally my type would have been some sort of indie rocker with dark hair and green eyes and loads of tattoos but something about this redneck attracted me. Maybe it was the rural vibe he sent around him. Maybe it was the feeling I got when he found me, the relief. Maybe the fact that he seemed to care about me. Soon Andrea interrupted my thinking and said:

"Maybe there's no paradise now, but you have what it takes to make your own paradise." With that she stood up and left me alone with the bag of clothes and my thoughts. _Maybe._

* * *

**Author's note**

****I'm starting to get really into this story myself! Can't wait to start writing the next chapter.

So yeah, I had my exam week so I'll have more time to write for few weeks and I'm so glad. I think I've found my lost passion for writing again.

I also want to tell that my story _Let the fate decide_ has been finished. I know it's a little sudden but I felt like the plot wasn't going anywhere and I needed to wrap it up. I'm considering to write a new TVD story (Delena obviously) but I haven't still figured out the plot...

Thank you for the favorites, subscriptions and comments. They make me really happy.

xx  
-Oona


	4. Chapter 4: He surprised me

We had continued living on the road for few days now. Even though Andrea's words had been in my mind I hadn't talked to Daryl properly since… well, since he taught me how to hold the shotgun. We had exchanged few greetings and stared at each other but there was no proper discussion. I shouldn't be surprised because he's a loner.

We were currently stopped by yet another group of stupidly places cars. What is with people wanting to ruin the others' chance to survive the apocalypse? I walked to a van on my left side and opened the backdoor. I was greeted with a horrible smell and grunts. I stepped back trying to get my knife from my belt but my hands refused to work and my heart started to race as I decided to escape. Suddenly the walker fell down. I could see an arrow right in the middle of its' left eye. My breathing started to slow down as I recognized the arrow. It was obviously Daryl's and soon the familiar feeling of comfort surrounded me. I could hear Daryl's light footsteps coming closer to me. Soon he was next to me and bent down to retrieve the arrow. He yanked the arrow hard making the walker's head raise from the ground. He stepped on it forcing it back down and got his arrow from the head.

"Thank you." I said as he stood back up.

"No problem." He answered as he turned around. "I'm used to savin' yer ass, lil' girl." Ever since he had found out my age he started to call address me as 'girl', 'lil' girl' or 'girly' instead of 'woman' like he used to. I don't know why but it really got on my nerves.

"I'm not your little girl." I replied turning around. His eyes locked to mine and a small smirk appeared to his lips.

"Sure." And with that he walked back to the car he was checking.

* * *

It was already dark and Lori had set up a fire in the middle of the road. We all were gathered around it and having dinner. Finally we had something proper to eat! We had found some canned vegetables and tuna from few cars and Daryl had hit the jackpot and caught three chickens, which had possibly ran away from some farm. For dessert we had some berries I had found by the road and some candies Glenn had found from some car.

"Tuna?" Glenn asked me as he poked me with the can.

"Yeah, thanks Glenn." I replied taking the can and shoving my fork into it. I had never liked tuna but sometimes you have to do things you don't like. After all I had never imagined I'd eat squirrel, see zombies or kill them or find a redneck attractive. Okay, that's it. I admit it. I might like him, but only a little. It's not like he's interested in me, I'm just a kid. While going on with my internal conversation I glanced at Daryl over the fire. He was sitting on the ground his elbows on his knees. I could see him getting some wood and placing it to the fire just to keep it perfect so Sophia and Carl could roast their marshmallows. Suddenly he perked up and started to put out the fire.

"Shit, shit, shit! Can't ya hear that?" He muttered as the rest of us stood up and started to look at him. "A herd is coming! Hide!" He whispered loudly as people started to run into different vehicles. Me being a little slow to react as always, I stayed there just staring at everyone. I picked up my bag and knife and started to run towards some white van.

"For fuck's sake!" I could hear Daryl mutter as he grabbed my arm and pulled me into another van that was closer to me. "Now just keep it down, would ya?" He requested, well ordered, as he shut the door and sat down to the floor. I copied his move and sat down to the opposite side of the car.

"It's late… I think ya should lay down." Daryl said after we had waited for the herd to pass. Unfortunately the walkers had decided to stop right outside of our hiding place. I could hear the groaning and the limping sound as they pulled their legs around them in unnatural angles and I could see them walking around the cars from the small window on the side of the van. I was glad to notice that the window was darkened so the geeks couldn't see in.

"I'm not tired. You can go to bed if you wish." I responded but my body decided to betray me by making me yawn.

"Okay, that's it." Daryl replied pointing the mattress I had carried to the van before the herd took over the road.

"But…" I started but I realized that I wasn't going to win this battle. "Okay." I added and saw a satisfied smirk on his face. I rolled my eyes and lay down to the mattress fully clothed. Soon my eyelids started to feel heavy and I fell to a light slumber.

* * *

I was woken up by the moonlight floating into the back of the van from the window. I could make up some shapes from the darkness and soon my eyes fixed on Daryl who was still sitting in the corner.

"How long was I out?" I asked. Daryl turned his head towards me and shrugged.

"About an hour."

"Are they still there?" I asked referring to the walkers. I could have checked it myself but I was too comfortable to get off the mattress.

"Only few but I suppose it's too much. I bet that in the mornin' we can head out." I answered as he stared through the window.

"You need to sleep too." I stated as noticed the dark circles around his eyes. His eyes, the moonlight made them look even brighter blue than normally. I couldn't help but stare until his eyes left my green ones.

"I can survive. This is not the first night I'd spend awake. And here's only one bed." He replied motioning at me.

"We can share…" I suggested and his eyes locked with mine again.

"No." He said and turned his glance back to the window. "I need to be awake so if one of those things tries to get in I'll be able to prepare."

"You really think they'd know how to break into a locked car? Those things are dumb! Just come here and shut the fuck up." I said as I lifted my blanket and patted the small space next to me.

"Jesus." He said as he made his way by the mattress and started to untie his shoelaces. I stared at him until he lay down next to me, his weight making the mattress tilt that caused me to slide right next to him, making our arms touch. "Good night." He said as he turned his back to me. I could feel his warmth even though we weren't touching and it made me feel safe.

* * *

"_Daryl! Don't! It tickles!" I yelled laughing as he straddled me tickling my sides. _

"_Shhh! The others will hear." He responded as he grabbed my hands and placed them above my head holding them still in his hand. He started to kiss my neck, his goatee scratching my neck and making it tickle. His kisses reached my jawline and soon his lips were on mine and his hands were slipping under my shirt. I could feel his warm, rough palm on my stomach as it started to make its way slowly towards my chest. My breathing was uneven I couldn't move. The only thing I could do was just lay on my back and enjoy his kisses and the gentle moves of his hand. _

_Suddenly he pulled back and his eyes were filled with confusion. He started to stand up and then someone slammed a big knife through his abdomen from the back, making him gasp for air. _

"_Noooo!" I yelled as I saw him falling down to the ground and his shirt getting soaked in his blood._

* * *

"No!" I yelled as I sat up. My heart was racing and my I was breathing heavily, almost panting. Daryl shot up from the mattress next to me and stared at the door grabbing his crossbow and one of his arrows.

"Did ya have a bad dream?" He asked as he lay back down after he realised that we weren't in danger.

"Yes and no." I answered as I lay back down next to him.

"What's that supposed to mean?" He asked as I replayed the dream in my mind.

"Nothing, nothing at all." I answered as I rolled to my side and pulled the blanket up all the way to my neck. There's no way I'd tell him what it was about.

"But now it's over and you can go back to sleep." He replied as I felt him turning to his side, his back to mine.

"I'm cold." I said and regretted it right away. What the fuck was I doing?!

"That's yer problem. Why didn't ya bring more blankets or wear more clothes?" He asked.

"How am I supposed to know that the camp gets overrun by the walkers?" I asked as I pulled the blanket even higher than before. I don't know why but a tear slid down my cheek. Maybe it was just the adrenaline wearing off and getting replaced with worry. I had no idea what had happened to the others and now it was way too dangerous to leave the van because of the complete darkness outdoors. There's no way to know what you'll face when you step out.

"Didn't try to make ya mad." He muttered as he felt the mattress move as I shook. "C'mere."

I turned around and saw that he had also turned around and was staring at me one of his arms raised.

"I'm not asking twice…" He added before I scooted over and laid my head on his chest and he wrapped his arm around me.

"I'm just worried. I don't know what happened to the others." I said as closed my eyes and enjoyed his body heat.

"They're fine. I saw all of them getting' into the cars nearby. Most of 'em got into the same one." He replied. I could feel him starting to play with my hair which was spread on my back and the pillow. "Awful lot of hair." He whispered twirling his fingers in my hair.

"Oh hush!" I said and playfully slapped his chest with my hand. Because he didn't protest I let my hand stay there. Soon I fell back to sleep with him messing with my hair.

* * *

When I woke up I was alone. I moved my hand to the spot Daryl had slept in and realised it was still warm. He couldn't have gotten up more than few minutes ago. I stretched my arms above my head as I recalled last night. I smiled slightly as I remembered how wonderful it had been to actually sleep close to someone. I had never been the cuddling type but things had changed. I got up from the bed and put my shoes on. I glanced out of the window to make sure the coast was clear, took the gun which used to be Merle's and tucked it to the back of my jeans before grabbing my hunting knife and putting it on my belt.

As I got out of the van I saw Glenn gathering something from the ground.

"Glenny!" I yelled as I walked to him and wrapped my arms around his shoulder. "I'm so glad to see you're okay!"

"I could say the same thing about you too. I was only a little worried when I saw you getting locked up into a van with Daryl. I have to admit that he terrifies me…" Glenn responded wrapping his arm around my waist.

"Aww, don't be! You should've seen what we did last night. He was so gentle." I replied. Glenn dropped his arm and moved away from my grip.

"Disgusting!" He shrieked starting to collect the cans of food he had obviously dropped to the ground.

"Oh god no! Nothing like that! Jesus! I'd never… God no! He's old!" I responded laughing as Glenn's expression returned to normal.

Too bad I didn't notice Daryl who was standing by the van we had spent the night in. He was holding a jar of peanut butter and crackers, clearly meant to be breakfast for us. Instead of bringing them over, he turned around, dropped the breakfast down to a hood of some red Citroen, slung his crossbow over his shoulder and started to make his way to the woods. He needed to clear his thoughts.

* * *

"Lori, have you seen Daryl?" I asked as I approached the tall woman doing the laundry.

"No, why?" She asked not glancing up from her washbasin.

"It's just strange you know. He's been gone nearly the entire day! I'm just getting a little worried and so is Dale." I answered truthfully as she glanced at me.

"I'm sure he's okay. He's tough." She replied as she kept on washing the clothes.

"I know, but I just have this strange feeling. Here, let me help you. I need to occupy my mind with something else." I took over the laundry as Lori said she'd go see what Rick was doing. I smiled at her and started to do the laundry.

For the entire day I had had this strange feeling. It was like someone was stalking me. Every time I turned my back to the woods I could feel someone staring at me but when I turned round, no matter how fast, the feeling stopped and there was no one to be seen.

I could hear the sound of a car coming closer and I turned my head to the left and saw it was Glenn and Shane. They had gone ahead to take a look at the town were getting closer and closer. By the looks on their face it wasn't pretty.

"Damn geeks!" Shane yelled as he slammed the door of his car shut. Glenn followed after him getting out from the passenger's seat. He didn't look as pissed as Shane, but he surely didn't look happy.

"That bad?" T-dog asked as he walked to the car.

"Damn straight! There were walkers everywhere and we were surrounded by a little herd but escaped to a supermarket and got a few bags of things from there and got back to the car. I'm suggesting that we don't go there. Instead, we should head to the countryside. There will be less houses and that means less walkers." Shane responded leaning to the hood of his car.

"I've got the map." Rick called as he walked to the car and handed the map to Shane, who placed it on the hood of the car in front of him. "So this area is out of question and so is this, right?"

"Yeah." Glenn replied as he started to get the bags out of the car. I walked to him with Andrea and started to help him.

"Okay, we'll head towards this road. Then we'll go here and check this place." Rick said drawing something to the map. Shane was next to him nodding and muttering something I couldn't quite catch.

"Take this?" Glenn asked as he handed me a bag full of noodles and sweet chilli sauce.

"The chink brings chink food. I should've guessed. Did ya bring anything proper to eat?" I could hear over my shoulder and without turning around I knew who it was by his snarl.

"I'm Korean!" He declared and glanced at Daryl over my shoulder.

"Whatever…" Daryl responded under his breath and started to walk away. I turned around holding the plastic carrier in my hand.

"Wait!" I yelled as I rushed after him, dropping the bag next to the RV.

"What?" He asked frustrated and turned around to face me. He was a lot dirtier than before and it looked like he was limping.

"Where were you and why are you limping?" I questioned and looked at him concerned.

"In the woods and that is none of yer business." He responded as he started to walk away from me.

"Wait!" I called again and placed my hand on his shoulder. He winced in pain and got away from my hand. "Are you hurt?" I asked worriedly as I reached him again just to get him to back up.

"No." He responded simply obviously lying.

"Yes you are!" I stated as I started to pull the side of his shirt up to reveal a nasty looking bruise on his side and blood dripping everywhere. "Oh my god! Were you attacked?" I asked getting anxious.

"Get yer hands off me, woman!" He said as he pushed me away. He started to limp away again but I grabbed his arm. "What did I just tell ya?" He asked as he ripped his arm away from me once again. "Leave me alone bitch!" He yelled and shoved me away. He had a furious look on his face but it softened as he saw my face fell and eyes getting puffy and red. I could feel a tear fall to my cheek.

"Fine!" I responded holding my hands up. "I give up. Apparently I'm too human because I care about people, because I care about you and your wellbeing." With that I turned my back to him and started to walk away.

"Fine!" He yelled back at me. "Go on, go tell that chink once again about me and how horrible it was to have me save ya last night and take care of ya and be there for ya. Go on. Look at all the fucks I give!" He yelled and started to walk away. I stared after him not wanting to argue with him anymore. My share of arguments had been used for the day.

* * *

**Author's note**

****I have written this ages ago and couldn't just hold this chapter anymore. It just screamed to be published! I also did really good in my maths exam so I wanted to celebrate it by posting this because I was writing this exact chapter when I was supposed to study. Oops...

As usual I want to thank you all so much! The reception this story has gotten has been overwhelming! I'm glad to see that you are liking this story and that so many people are reading this. Now only if I got you all to review!But now I want to thank _Emberka-2012, FanFicGirl10, Viasly_ and one mysterious _guest_ for your reviews. It's wonderful to see that people are some taking time to review my story.

-Oona


	5. Chapter 5: He forgave me

"Jesus, Alexis! What happened?" Andrea asked as I stormed past her.

"Nothing. Just drop it!" I told her as I started to make my way to my Chevy.

"Alexis…" Andrea said quietly as she took a hold of my arm. "You are like a sister to me, I don't want to see you sad. Now, tell me." I rolled my eyes and pushed her away from me. I opened the car door and locked it, making sure no one would get in. Eventually Andrea left me alone.

I didn't cry. I had done that enough during the past few days. I stared out of the windshield seeing Rick talking with Shane, T-dog and Dale. They were obviously planning to take off any minute now. Luckily I had packed Glenn and my stuff earlier to the trunk of my car. Now I only had to wait for Glenn. I rolled down the window just enough for me to hear their conversation.

"We'll take this way and head to that intersection. Then we'll go right and there should be lots of space and possibly abandoned farmhouses. That's also the place where Daryl caught the chickens." Rick said as he drew around the map while the others just silently nodded along. I could see Daryl walking towards the men. I angrily rolled the window up glancing to another side huffing. I could feel Andrea staring at me and rolling her eyes. I had noticed that I was being childish and irrational but there was no backing up yet.

* * *

Eventually I had calmed down and became a little ashamed of my behavior. After a quick chat with Andrea I decided to talk with Daryl later and ask him what did he mean with the remark about Glenn. But that should wait because we were on the move heading to the countryside.

"Are you okay? You haven't said a thing for over an hour…" Glenn started warily as he fiddled with his baseball cap.

"Yeah, I'm okay." I responded lying. There was no point to try to explain it to Glenn. He was sweet but he was a man. His respond would possibly be something about the hormones. According to men it's _always_ about the hormones.

He didn't respond but stared at the side of my face as I drove.

"Hey! Slow down!" Glenn called as the cars ahead of us started to slow down. I stopped the car and got out of it. Glenn and I walked to Rick and Lori to see what was going on.

"There's crossroads coming ahead. We need to decide which way to go. I believe the best way is to split up into small groups and see which way is the best one. We'll going to need three groups and rest of the people will stay put guarding the rest of the cars." Rick started holding his arms on his hips. "I'll be going to one direction with Shane so we'll need four more."

"I'm going with Glenn!" Andrea called raising her hands up. Glenn gave her a really confused look but Andrea shoved him with her elbow.

"Okay…" Glenn said as he put his cap on.

"I'm going!" I said eagerly glancing at Rick.

"No yer not!" Daryl yelled causing everyone to stare at him, including myself.

"I think she should go, Daryl, and you're going with her." Rick said.

"I'm goin' alone." He continued grabbing his crossbow.

"No one is going alone. It's a rule." Shane stated. "You and Alexis will go together."

"Fine." I said not meeting Daryl's glance.

* * *

Rick and Shane were taking Shane's car, Andrea and Glenn my Chevy and I was stuck with a goddamn motorcycle. Apparently it was too much to unload the truck but it was just fine to ride a motorcycle. I decided not to argue with anyone so I silently climbed to the back of the bike and tried to overcome my fear of riding one without helmet. I know I've said that once you're living on the edge you should do it properly but it's different to be in a car driving 40 mph than on a motorcycle.

"Here. Take this." Daryl said holding his crossbow. "I can't hold it so just take it." He said before I took the bow from his hands and slipped it over my shoulder like I had seen him do many times.

Daryl started the bike and started to ride it past the cars. I could see Andrea sitting in the driver's seat of the Impala and winking at me with a knowing smile. I smiled her brightly before jokingly flipping her off. Almost right away Daryl grabbed my hand and placed it back to his waist. I moved my arm lower making sure I didn't touch the bruise on his side.

"I don't want ya fallin' off." He said to me as we took the road on the left. I tightened my grip around him as the speed increased. I leant back to his shoulder and I could feel him tightening under my touch. I smiled and stared into the distance.

* * *

"I think we should go to check the house on the right." I stated as we were about to pass a cozy looking farmhouse. Without a word Daryl stopped the bike and motioned me to get off. I did as asked and passed him his crossbow and started to get my gun from the back of my jeans. Daryl placed a hand on my arm to stop me and forced me to look at him confused.

"Yer not goin' anywhere. Stay here." He stated as he started to walk to the house.

"No! You heard what Rick and Shane said. No one is going anywhere alone and last time I checked it included you." I said as I walked past him. He grabbed my arm again this time rougher.

"Fine, but stay behind me." With that he started to walk slowly to the house glancing left and right before opening the front door. I followed close behind him and took a hold of the back of his shirt.

The house was old and hadn't been lived in for months maybe even for years by the amount of untouched dust everywhere. We approached the kitchen on our left. I turned around, my back on Daryl's as we entered the room. I raised my gun as I heard something on my right. I lowered the gun as I realized it was only a mouse. We continued to the living room which was connected to the kitchen.

I could see a figure sitting on the sofa and I grabbed Daryl's shirt. He turned around and walked to the person. By the look on his face I knew it was a walker. He took it down quickly with an arrow as I heard a dragging sound behind me. I turned around and shot at the female walker but missed. The second bullet pierced its head and it fell lifelessly to the floor. I let out a cry and sank down to my knees. I could hear Daryl rushing to my side and kneeling down next me.

"Ya hurt?" He asked as I shook my head and wrapped my arms around his neck and placed head to the crook of his neck. He stiffened instantly and didn't move at all. I had expected that but part of me hope he would've wrapped his arms around me.

"I'm sorry. I am so sorry." I muttered to his neck.

"For what?" He asked quietly.

"For being a bitch to you." I responded still crying to his neck.

"It's nothin'." He answered. "Just get up. We can't stay here." I nodded to his neck and started to stand up. He took a hold of my arm and pulled me up with him. He stared down at me and gave me a small smile that didn't reach his eyes. "Let's go." He said still holding to my arm as he started to pull me to the next room after him. I followed him, still holding my gun tightly in my right hand. Daryl walked me to the bed in the room and checked the bathroom and the wardrobe. "It's clear. This is small but if we board up the windows this could be safe. I'll go check the upstairs. You stay here." I nodded and he turned around starting to walk upstairs.

He came down soon and walked next to me.

"Nothing up there. Come on, we need to go. The others are waitin'." He said as he waited for me to stand up.

"Okay." I responded as I stood up and placed my gun the back of my jeans. Daryl took a hold of my arm and started to pull me out of the house. He barricaded the front door and the windows with things he found from the yard and then we took off towards the camp.

* * *

When we reached the camp, everyone was already there waiting for us. They had set up a fire pit and were cooking some canned peas. We walked to them and sat down to the ground.

"Did ya find anythin'?" Daryl asked grabbing us both a small bowl of food.

"Nothing. We found a small town full of walkers and Andrea and Glenn found nothing but fields." Shane said while munching his food. "You?"

"There was a house about 15 miles from here. We saw two walkers but we took 'em down and secured the door and the windows. It should be clean." Daryl said as I picked my food.

"That's good news. I think we should go there and see if we could stay there for a while." Glenn said. I nodded in reply and started to eat my food.

"You okay?" Carol asked staring at me concerned.

"Yeah…" I responded without raising my glance from the bowl. I finished the beans and stood up without saying a thing. I walked to the other side of the RV and leant back to it.

"How did everything end up being this fucked up?" I asked as I heard someone walking to me. Soon I recognized his footsteps and turned to him. He wrapped his arms around me and pulled me to his chest. I started to cry again.

"Shh, it will be okay." Shane said as I wrapped my arms around his waist.

* * *

That evening before the dark we moved to the house. The men boarded up the windows and the women carried the bags into the house. By the sundown everything was ready. We had locked up the door and set up few lanterns around the couple rooms of the house. We had set up the rooms for sleeping, Rick, Lori and Carl in the living room, Andrea, me, Carol and Sophia in the bedroom, Glenn and Daryl in the kitchen and T-dog, Shane and Dale upstairs in the hall.

Everyone else was already sleeping but I just couldn't. This sudden trust to the house among the other people hadn't really reached me. I argued with Rick about having someone keep watch on the roof but he didn't want that. Apparently everyone needed a good night sleep. I didn't argue with that but it made me uneasy to know that there would be no one warning us if a walker reached the door or the windows and got in. We all would be dead in a heartbeat.

I lay on my back staring at the ceiling. I could see the small cracks dancing around it. I couldn't just stay here. I sat up and walked to the kitchen. I really needed to have a glass if water. I reached the corner where we kept our water and took my bottle. I could see Glenn and Daryl sleeping soundly on the ground. I smiled at them. They both were good guys but didn't like each other, but here they were, sleeping together. I smiled at the thought but then grimaced as I realized how dirty it sounded like. I put the bottle back down and started to leave the room as I turned around and decided against it. I walked to Daryl's side and shook him lightly whispering his name quietly.

"What's goin' on, lil' girl?" He muttered groggily not opening his eyes.

"How did you know it's me?" I asked confused.

"The midget feet." He responded still holding his eyes shut. "What do ya want?"

"I just… Ugh, never mind." I said as I started to stand up. He opened his eyes and looked up to me.

"You can." He said holding my gaze.

"Can what?" I asked furrowing my brows.

"Ya know." He stated. I smiled back at him and walked quickly back to the bedroom leaving him frowning to the kitchen. His expression softened as he saw me coming back with my pillow and blanket.

"I didn't want to wake everyone up by dragging the mattress here. Move." I said as I knelt down and pushed him to get enough space to sleep in. He chuckled and slid to the other side of his mattress. I slid down next to him wrapping the blanket around me. What surprised me was that after I turned my back to him he scooted over and pulled me to his chest, draping his arm around my waist and leaning his chin to the back of my head. I smiled sleepily as his grip tightened and soon I was fast asleep and I felt completely safe.

* * *

I woke up in the morning. The sun hadn't risen yet but Daryl was already leaving, tying the laces of his boots. I placed my hand to his upper back as I bit my bottom lip. I couldn't help it. I didn't want him to leave yet. He stiffened under my touch and turned around slightly so he could see my face.

"I need to go." He said quietly as he got off the mattress and pulled the blanket back on top of me.

"Let me come with you. I'd love to learn how to use the crossbow." I responded still lying on the bed. Daryl smiled a little but turned around.

"Maybe later. I need to go now but I'll return soon. I'm goin' to check around the house." He said as he left the room and soon the house. I got up quickly and got my pillow and blanket and started to make my way back to the bedroom I was supposed to be sleeping in. I got soundly back to my mattress and pulled the blanket over me. I almost giggled at my sneakiness until I heard someone clear her throat.

"Spill it!" Andrea whispered harshly as she sat up. I buried my head into the pillow and that's when Andrea got the pillow from my hands and threw it over her shoulder. She gave me the look only she knew how to give and I sighed.

"I couldn't sleep." I responded leaning to the wall after I sat up as well.

"And then you just found yourself sleeping next to a Dixon?" She asked with a sneaky smile.

"Fine! I went there to get some water and then he kind of asked me to sleep with him…" I answered staring down at my hands as I felt a slight blush creep in.

"Oh god did you have sex?" Andrea asked widening her eyes.

"Jesus no! I mean Glenn was there! But no we didn't…" I responded, blushing even more.

"I knew there was something going on between you two but that's just too much." Andrea replied laughing. I tried to hush her but she laughed even louder.

"Andrea…" I pleaded but she didn't shut up.

"What is going on?" Carol asked as she sat up rubbing her eyes.

"Just what I needed! I'm going out for a bit." I said as I grabbed my gun and put my boots on.

"What did I do wrong?" Carol asked worriedly as Andrea just continued to laugh, holding her sides.

* * *

I hadn't really paid attention to the yard earlier. It was covered with wildly growing grass and weeds but I could tell it had been well kept by the amount of flowers and the small gravel path leading to the backyard. I walked along the path taking in everything around me. The house was basically in the middle of nothing and there was something relaxing about it.

There was a shed where the path ended. I tried to open the door but it was locked. I glanced around seeing nothing helpful, until I saw a crowbar in the thick growth of the grass. I pried the door open and stepped back to preparing to fight. After a moment of quietness I pulled the door open completely and gasped as I saw everything in there.

"Daryl!" I called quietly knowing he'd been following me from the shadows. "Daryl!" I called again as I stepped into the shed. I laid my hand on a large machete and slid my other hand on the pipe of a riffle. I could hear footsteps behind me so I turned around.

"What?" Daryl asked before he stepped into the shed. "The son of a bitch who lived here was definitely not a pacifist." I saw him looking around the room and grab one of the many riffles from the wall. He placed the gun back to the wall and took a hold of one massive hunting knife. I glanced at him blankly and he just smiled. "I guess it's yer lucky day." He said suddenly after strapping the knife to his belt.

"What do you mean?" I asked turning my attention to his face.

"Look." He said as he grabbed a see through plastic bag from the wall. I could see there were loads of strings and some other spare parts for a crossbow. Then he lifted something from the corner of the room. He passed it to me and I could see it was a crossbow. It looked a little old but functional. I took a closer look to the bow as Daryl picked up some arrows he had found.

"This looks nice." I said as I lowered the crossbow from my arms. I could see Daryl lifting a board with few circles drawn to it.

"Come one before I change my mind." He snarled as he walked out of the shed hands full of stuff. I guess this morning was going to be a basic surviving 101, crossbow edition.

* * *

**Author's note**

Here it is!  
I know this is a little fast update after my normal once a week updates but I've already finished couple next chapters and I just wanted to get this out. I hope you all like this chapter. I also want to reveal that the group is soon heading to the Greene farm but it won't happen like in the series. I feel like 95% of the Walking dead fanfiction authors use Sophia's disappearance in their stories to show off the change in Daryl's personality but I wanted to make this a little different, a little less predictable.

Oh and reviews are more than welcome!

Thank you Demi, Emberka-2012 and babydake93 for your reviews. It's so great to hear what people think about this story.

And Emberka-2012; don't worry! She apologized to him and feels really bad. Luckily Daryl accepted the apology. I just wanted to create some drama so this story wouldn't be all smiles and sunshine.

-Oona


	6. Chapter 6: He opened up to me

The sun was now completely up, shining down on us. Daryl and I were standing in the backyard staring at the target after I had fired an arrow towards the big circle.

"We have so much to do…" Daryl said chewing his thumb before turning his gaze to me. He once again stared at the arrow that had missed the board big time. I frowned as I walked the arrow and picked it up.

"Maybe we should aim to the wall of the house…" Daryl continued now smirking.

"Ha ha so funny!" I mocked and started to aim again. He walked to me and started to move my arms lower and placed his leg in between mine to separate them further.

"Always keep balance." He stated simply as he walked behind me and took a hold of the crossbow. "Now, aim and release." He said. I could feel his warm breath on my neck as he tightened his grip on the crossbow. "Go on…" He ordered sounding impatient.

I started to pull the string back and placed the arrow back in, just like Daryl had showed me earlier. I moved my legs so I had the perfect balance, inhaled and aimed releasing the arrow. The weapon kicked back but Daryl took the recoil as he held the crossbow.

"Well fuck me…" Daryl said as he released his hold of the crossbow. I had still managed to miss the target. This time though the distance between the arrow and the target had decreased by few feet. He stepped back holding his hands behind his head and turned around so his back was facing me. I could see his patience was wearing off. He sighed turning back around after I had retrieved the arrow. He walked behind me again holding the crossbow to soften the kick.

"Well, excuse me if I don't aim like Hawkeye." I said turning back to the target. "Practice makes perfect." I continued as I fired the weapon. This time I hit the tree above the target. "See?"

"Yeah, yeah, yer the modern world Robin Hood now." He said as I walked to the tree trying desperately to reach the arrow. "Move, midget." He said as he walked behind me and pulled the arrow from the trunk with ease.

"Bigfoot!" I yelled as he obviously was making fun of my height.

"Ya know what they say 'bout men with big feet?" He asked smirking as he grabbed the crossbow from me. He walked away from the tree and hit the bull's eye. "And that's how it's done."

"You suck!" I called and playfully slapped him, taking the crossbow from him. I tried to concentrate as he walked behind me once again. I took the aim and missed again, this time the arrow made it to the ground about 2 feet past the target.

"You are the one who sucks." Daryl said as he retrieved the arrow. "You wanna keep up with this or quit for the day?" He asked as he walked towards me.

"Oh I'm gonna learn this today!" I answered taking the arrow from him and aiming again. Now the arrow scratched the target but flew to the ground. "Fuck!" I yelled. I didn't normally swear that much but after spending all morning with him his offensive language had started to affect the way I spoke.

"Mind yer language, lady. It ain't ladylike to swear like that…" Daryl said as he grabbed the crossbow from my hands.

"You're the one to speak…" I muttered.

"Yeah, but I ain't no lady. I can swear if I feel like it." He responded walking closer and taking a hold of my wrist. "Did it hurt?" He asked without meeting my eye. "The kick, did it hurt you?" He questioned.

"A little…" I responded truthfully. Our eyes met and I could see something in his eyes I hadn't seen before.

"Okay, that's it for today. We'll continue later." He said as he let go of me and left to get the target and the arrow. I saw him inspecting the arrow and muttering something about changing the feathers. I followed him to the front of the house and entered it after him walking straight to the kitchen.

"Where have you lovebirds been?" Andrea asked wiggling her eyebrows as she went through on the cupboards in the kitchen.

"What?" I asked giving her the eye.

"What are you ogling there, Alexis?" She continued making Daryl mutter something under his breath.

"We ain't lovebirds." Daryl said as he left the room and headed upstairs. I stared after him and then at Andrea.

"Sorry, I had to." She said laughing as I gave her another angry glance. Even though I knew Andrea was joking I could hear that Daryl wasn't. Maybe I didn't have a chance after all.

"Wanna help me?" She asked as she continued to go through the cabinets.

"Sure." I replied starting to rummage through everything without finding anything edible.

* * *

"This is a safe house, but we don't have food anymore." Rick said in the evening after our poor dinner. It was just another meal of beans and canned corn.

"Ya mean we have to leave tomorrow?" T-dog asked as he finished his bowl.

"Yes. I suppose. Tomorrow morning a group will go search for another house we can stay in. The rest will stay behind in this house doors locked." He continued as Carol nodded beside him and braided Sophia's blonde hair.

"Have you planned who's going?" Glenn asked worriedly.

"I suggest Glenn, Rick, Daryl, and myself" Shane said standing up.

"But there won't be enough men to help if something bad happens." Lori said worriedly catching Rick's eye.

"Then we'll replace someone with Andrea or Alexis." Rick suggested staring at Andrea and I.

"I'll go." I said. "Andrea is more helpful here with her gun incase of someone comes here." I responded glancing her way. "Who's staying?"

"I can stay here," Shane responded first looking at Rick and then at Lori and then at Andrea.

"Okay, it's settled then. We'll leave as the sun rises." Rick said and started to walk to the kitchen. "Oh and I think that we'll need someone to keep watch tonight." He continued turning around to face the group. _About the time…_ I thought as I remembered the argument between Rick and I earlier. I shuddered at the memory and stared around the room.

"I'll do that." Shane said rubbing the back of his neck.

"I can take the second shift." Andrea said smiling. The two of them had been exchanging glances here and there. Now I really needed to ask if Dale had seen any of that. I might have something to use against Andrea if she talked about Daryl and I again. Oh how I love the camp drama more and more everyday. It's way more amusing than _the desperate housewives_ on TV.

* * *

The morning came soon and I had actually slept well. Having a person guarding the house really had an effect. I wondered if Daryl had expected me to come sleep next to him. I shook my head at the thought as I tied my long curls up with a hair tie and used a bobby pin to get my bangs from my face. I looked rather good considering it was the end of the world.

"Glenn and I will take Shane's car and you two take the Chevy." Rick ordered looking at Daryl and I. He nodded but I just stared at Rick confused. I had thought that Glenn and I would ride together but I bet Rick had some sort of alpha male thing going on. It was obvious that Rick and Daryl were more forceful than Glenn and I.

"Take care." Rick said as he nodded at us.

"You too. See you soon Rick and Glenny." I called as they stepped to the car. Glenn looked back at me and smiled at the nickname. It was obvious that he didn't appreciate it but in my opinion it was adorable. "Come one, Hawkeye, we don't have all morning." I said as I took off to my Chevy.

"I'm drivin'. " Daryl said as he walked past me and got to the driver's seat. "Women can't drive." I rolled my eyes at his comment but decided to keep my thoughts to myself. I got into the car and leaned to the window. "Ya got yer gun and knife?" He asked as he started the car and hit the road. I nodded in respond and stared at the distance.

* * *

We had driven for twenty minutes and there was absolutely nothing but fields everywhere.

"What happened to Merle?" I asked I was flipping through some magazine I had found from the glove department.

"What makes ya wanna know?" He asked as he stared at the road and the car in front of us.

"I have his gun and he isn't around. It's natural to be at least a little curious." I responded as I placed the magazine down. Daryl started to chew his thumb and clench his jaw.

"He was my brother. Got cuffed to a rooftop in Atlanta. He fuckin' cut off his own hand to save his ass. Haven't seen him since. He's a tough motherfucker." He answered after a while.

"Why was he cuffed? And how do you know he cut his own hand? Is this true as your Chupacabra story?" I asked staring at the side of his face.

"Apparently he was so high that he did some dumb shit and T-dog and Rick got so pissed off that they decided to leave him there. T-dog says he dropped the key by accident but… you never know. And the hand… I went to get him and all there was left was the cuffs and a goddamn hand." He said glancing at me quickly before returning back to the road. "And that Chupacabra story is true. I don't tell lies."

"I'm sorry to hear that…" I responded quietly. "But I still don't believe the story about the mystic dog."

"I know what I saw!" He claimed loudly. We saw the car in front of us slow down and then we all were stopped by a mailbox that said Greene.

"Should we go there?" I could hear Glenn ask as we got out of the car.

"I think it's worth checking." I responded staring into the distance.

"Okay, we'll go if no one has anything against it." Rick said glancing around our little group. We all nodded in agreement and returned to the cars.

During the drive we saw few strays walking around the fields but decided not to kill them. Not by shooting them at least. It would attract too much unwanted attention in their midst. We reached a wooden fence that blocked the way. We could see Rick and Glenn getting out of the car grabbing few of the guns we had discovered from the shed back at the current house of ours. Daryl and I followed their lead and soon saw a big farmhouse ahead. There was a field full of horses and they looked well kept. It was obvious that someone was staying in the house. The lawn looked just mowed and the house was recently boarded up.

"Should we turn back?" I asked as Rick started to make his way to the porch.

"Nah." Daryl responded for Rick and stayed back raising his crossbow and aiming towards the door as Rick knocked.

There was nothing. We were about to leave when we could hear some quiet talking from the house.

"Hello? Anyone home?" Rick asked knocking again. That time the door flew open and an old man holding an ancient shotgun greeted us looking angry.

"Get off my property, you hooligans! He said forcefully his face hardening.

"Sir, we didn't mean to intrude or disturb you." Rick said holding his hands up. Glenn and I copied his move but Daryl stayed put, holding the crossbow tightly. He walked past me stopping right in front of me.

"I'm Rick Grimes and this is part of my group, Daryl, Glenn and Alexis. We are looking for a place to say and though that this place looked decent. We will leave now if you wish and never disturb you again, sir." He said respectfully.

"Good." The man said as he nudged his gun, motioning us to leave.

"Sir?" I said gathering everyone's attention. "There's not many of us and we even have two children with us. We would highly appreciate if you allowed us to stay here until we figure out what to do. We'd help around the farm, fixing, doing the laundry, cooking… You name it! Please, sir?" I requested biting my lower lip. The man still had a frown on his face but I could see he was pondering the options.

"Hershel… They're just needing a little help!" A feminine voice called behind him.

"Patricia, stay out of this!" The man ordered.

"But there would be so much they could help with." Another voice called. After that a large man appeared to the doorway. "I'm Otis." The man said giving a slight wave at us. I smiled at him and knew instantly that he was a good guy.

"Stay out of this!" The older man ordered glancing at Otis.

"But dad!" Another voice came from the house.

"Beth! I told you to stay in your room with Maggie!" Hershel said as he started to back to the house. "You bring over your entire group as soon as possible and we'll decide what to do." The old man said looking strict.

"Thank you, sir!" I responded happily. I could hear Glenn letting out a relieved sigh and saw Daryl drop his weapon and Rick lower his hands down.

"Thank you all." Rick said as he smiled politely at the men and started to lead us back to the cars.

"I can't believe how lucky we were!" I exclaimed as I walked next to Glenn wrapping my arm around his.

"Ya never know." Daryl said looking warily around him.

"You're such a pessimist!" I responded. "Brighten up, man!"

"Easier said than done, midget."

* * *

Back at the camp everyone was surprised by our discovery. The kids wondered what kind of animals there would be and if there were other kids to play with. Carol and Lori were excited because of the possibility to use a proper kitchen. Daryl said that there was ideal ground for hunting and that he might be able to catch few rabbits and maybe even deer. Soon the entire camp was excited but I bet that the little pessimistic Daryl we all had in us really started to raise its head but everyone seemed to ignore it. It took less than an hour for us to pack up and hit the road. From the house we had found a fully stocked linen closet and decided to give part of it to the Greene's as a thank you present.

As we started to reach the farm I had my hopes up and would have bet almost everything I had that we would be greeted with a nice southern hospitality.

* * *

**Author's note**

****Another new chapter. Yay!  
It's been a crazy week but I finally got this written.

Thank you for your wonderful reviews! It's wonderful to read your feedback.

-Oona


	7. Chapter 7: He kissed me

We had been living at the Greene farm for about a week now. At first Hershel had been a little hesitant after he saw how many of us there was, but finally let us stay after we had proven ourselves useful. So far T-dog, Rick and Shane had fixed the fence; Dale had helped Hershel to fix the windmill so now we had enough electricity to get the freezer running and then they had started to built a greenhouse for the winter. Daryl had been out hunting almost every day. Glenn, Andrea and I had made few runs to the houses nearby to gather supplies and Lori and Carol as well as the rest of the women had taken over household chores. I could feel my feminist side getting a little annoyed at the stereotyping gender roles but I had to admit that the arrangement worked. There was no way I could imagine Shane holding a needle and sewing his own clothes or Rick fixing as good dinner as Carol prepared every day.

I had started to bond with the Greene's and I had learnt a lot about them. According to Beth, the big man, Otis, and the older woman, Patricia, were together and weren't actually related to the Greene's. I had learnt that Beth and Maggie were sisters and their mother had passed away earlier and that Hershel was their father. She also told me that Jimmy and her were supposed to get married in the few next years. I, on the other hand, told Beth about my life before the outbreak and what kind of people my group was. I had to admit that everything looked wonderful. No walkers had been seen near the farm for days and Daryl had only run into two strays while tracking a deer. It had been a close call though. He still wasn't completely healed from his previous accident that he hadn't mentioned to anyone or spoke about it after I had seen his bruises.

"Alexis!" I could hear Shane yell by the fence. I smiled at the man and used my hand to block the sun.

"Is there something wrong, officer?" I asked jokingly as he started to walk towards me.

"No, miss. Everything is fine. I just need some help with my car." He responded playing along. I smiled again as I started to walk to his car.

"Let's see what I can do for you..." I stated as I popped up the hood of his car. "But, there's nothing wrong…" I responded as I turned around just to bump into his chest. "Shane?" I asked as I tried to escape his arms which were on the both sides of me as he leant to the hood of his car.

"Oh I know." He said leaning forward forcing me lean to the car.

"Shane don't, you're with Andrea." I pointed out. She had been over the moon when she had told me about their little thing.

"I'm not." He responded smirking. I tried to push him away but he was too big.

"Shane…" I warned him but he just kept coming closer. I closed my eyes and turned my head sideways and kneed his crotch.

"Fucking bitch!" He yelled as he stumbled backwards and let me step away from the car. "What the fuck? You've been playing with me for days, basically throwing yourself at me and you do this?" He groaned as he tried to take a hold of my arms.

"I haven't done such thing!" I yelled as pushed him away. I admit I had gotten closer to him as well as with the rest of the camp but the way I saw it, our relationship was completely platonic. "Fuck you Shane!" I yelled as I started to run away from him. I reached the RV soon and got in slamming the door shut behind me. Lori and Carl gave me a funny look while they were playing card. I ignored them taking a water bottle from the counter and emptying it. I peered out of the window seeing no one. I put the now empty bottle back to the counter and got out of the camper.

"Lexi!" Someone yelled. I knew who it was right away. Daryl was the only one who shortened my name like that. I walked over to him, seeing he was carrying seven squirrels and two rabbits. "I'm so glad I killed that mother fucker! He deserved that!" He yelled dropping the game to the ground and stretching his back. I gulped as I heard his words. He was covered with blood and guts and I started to feel sick.

"Who did you kill?" I asked nervously as I stopped few feet from him.

"A walker. Who else? That fucking geek was munchin' the deer I had been trackin' since this mornin'." He responded kicking one of the squirrels he had dropped.

"Oh…" I responded relieved. For a second I had thought that he had done something to Shane but then I saw him standing by the barn looking at us.

"There's nothin' to ooh about." Daryl responded holding his hands to his hips. I smiled at him as I closed the distance between us and wrapped my arms around him and buried my head to his chest. "What the fuck, woman?" He whispered harshly and tried to push me off.

"Don't! Just a second!" I responded quickly. He relaxed a little and patted my back awkwardly.

"There, there. Now get off me." He ordered as I unwrapped my arms and glanced at the barn not seeing Shane there anymore. I let out a relieved sigh and picked up some of the dead animals from the ground and walked to the spot Daryl usually gutted the animals before giving the meat to Carol.

"I'm covered in blood and dirt now." I said as he sat down to a lawn chair facing me.

"It's yer own damn fault." He muttered as he dropped a gutted squirrel to a bucket on his left. I wanted to tell him what happened but I couldn't. I had a hunch what would happen if he knew about Shane. That wouldn't be pretty for any of us. Not for me, Shane or Andrea. Not for himself either. "Hurry up or pass me the squirrel." He said. I noticed he had already gutted everything while I was lost in thought. I glanced at him and passed the squirrel to him without saying a word. With few quick moves he gave me the bucked full of meat and told me to take them to the kitchen. I stood up and did so.

* * *

I was siting on the porch holding the crossbow Daryl and I had found from the shed at the house we stayed in for a moment. It was massive yet surprisingly light. I grabbed the towel I had brought with me and started to polish the weapon. I did my best to make it look brand new.

"Wow, that's cool!" Carl said as he plopped down next to me.

"Thanks! Only if I knew how to use this thing." I answered smiling at the boy.

"It can't be that hard, I mean, Daryl can use one." He said. I just laughed and ruffled his hair.

"Believe me, it is way harder than it looks, kid." I answered smiling. "He's fantastic at it though. I suck." I continued making the boy smile.

"You should practice. Mom always says that practice make perfect." He answered.

"Wise words. I know I should practice but I have no time for that at the moment." I responded before Lori stormed out of the house looking worried.

"Carl! What have I said! Stay in sight!" She yelled as the young boy stood up looking defeated.

"I'm sorry, mom." He responded walking back to the house.

"I'm sorry, I didn't know you didn't know he's here." I responded placing the crossbow down next to me.

"It's okay, Alexis, really. By the way, mind telling everyone that dinner's ready?"

"I'll do that." I responded standing up and slinging the weapon over my shoulder.

I had already found everyone else except Daryl. Luckily I didn't have to face Shane alone because he was with Rick when we crossed paths but neither one of them had seen Daryl for a while. I frowned as I started to approach the field glancing to right and left not seeing anyone. I turned around leaning to the fence and after a short moment I saw Daryl stepping out from behind the barn.

"Hey Hawkeye! Dinner's ready!" I hollered attracting his attention.

"Quit screaming woman!" He responded walking over to me. "You don't want to attract attention." He continued as he reached me.

"What if I wanted to attract attention?" I asked staring at him.

"What do ya mean with that?" He asked leaning to the fence staring right back at me. I just smiled slightly dropping my gaze to the ground and started to walk to the house.

"Where were you?" I asked turning around to face him.

"None of yer business." He responded. I held my hand to his chest and saw him flinch. I looked at him suspiciously as I stepped closer to him taking a hold of the bottom of his shirt. "Hey, hey, hey!" Daryl yelled trying to push me away from him but I was quicker and revealed even bigger bruise on his side than it had been earlier.

"You are like a damn cat which goes alone to die!" I yelled dropping his shirt back down. He just stared at me not saying a word. "I'm going to tell Hershel. He used to be a vet and knows things. I'm pretty sure you have broken ribs."

"I ain't animal so he can keep his old man hands off me." He muttered trying to push past me.

"Well you surely act like one! Just like I said you're just like a cat which disappears to suffer." He just stared at me not making a sound. I groaned and started to walk away as he grabbed my arm and pushed me to the wall of the farmhouse.

"I am fine." He snarled slowly not breaking the eye contact.

"No you're not." I argued back trying to push him away. He just grabbed my wrists harder and pushed them the to the wall next to my hips. I gasped at his sudden reaction and he obviously saw my confusion. He dropped my hands and started to walk into the house. This time it was my turn to grab his arm. He looked back at me and before I could change my mind I wrapped my arms around his neck and crashed my lips to his. It took him barely a second to return the kiss and soon I was pushed to the wall again. He took a hold of my hips with his hand as the other was pressed against the wall. I tightened my hold of him as he groaned and deepened the kiss slipping his tongue into my mouth. His hand started to move from my hip as he slid it down my thigh, lifting my leg and wrapping it around his hips.

I pulled away from the kiss for air as he started to kiss down my neck and jawline. My eyes rolled back as the pleasure took over me. I slid my fingers into his hair and whimpered. I could feel him smile against my neck before he pulled away, letting my leg fall back to the ground.

"Dinner's getting' cold." He whispered as he grabbed my arm and started to pull me into the house.

"Damn Dixon, you are an animal." I responded breathlessly trying to even my frantic heartbeat. He let out a small laugh as we entered the house.

* * *

"What took you so long? The dinner is getting cold." Carol asked staring at the two of us.

"Got caught up with something urgent." Daryl responded taking his seat and staring at me. I felt a blush creep into my cheeks as I copied his move and sat down to my usual seat in between of Andrea and Glenn.

"What do you mean? Is everything okay?" Maggie asked worriedly glancing at Daryl.

"Nothin' I couldn't take care of… And I surely will." He responded matter-of-factly. I tried my best not to choke on my soup but ended up coughing my lungs out. Andrea turned to my side and stared at me worriedly. I motioned I was okay and calmed down eventually.

"Yer lookin' a little red there, midget." Daryl said staring at me with a playful grin spread on his face. I just stared at him.

"I almost choked! Couldn't breath." I responded taking a sip of water. He then turned his attention to the soup a small smile playing on his lips.

"Yeah, yeah…" He responded before Rick started to talk about a supply run to the nearby gas station.

"Alexis." Andrea whispered next to me not looking at my face while Rick was talking.

"What?" I asked in a shushed tone glancing at the side of her face.

"Wanna tell me why your hair looks like that?" She asked before grabbing a piece of bread from the bowl in the middle of the table. I furrowed my brows before placing my palm to the back of my hair. I had a serious case of ´sex hair´ going on. I grabbed the hair tie from my wrist and tied my hair in to a messy bun as soon as possible and stared at Daryl across the table. He gave me devilish grin making his intentions perfectly clear.

I excused myself after I had finished the soup and left the dining room. I needed some time alone to cool down. The glances Daryl shot me hadn't gone unnoticed by me and they surely hadn't been helping either. I left the house walking towards my tent. This time I had my own tent. I had gotten fed up with Glenn snoring and Andrea kicking me in her sleep. And it would've been a little uncomfortable to share a tent with Glenn after the numerous times I had seen Maggie sneak into his tent late at night when she thought no one was watching. Living in the camp had made me realize that there would always be somebody watching, living or dead.

* * *

**Author's note**

****Finally the couple is starting to look like a couple!  
I am currently working on the next chapter but I'm pretty sure that I'll post it a little later than normally. School is keeping me busy and I have a bunch of writing assignments waiting for me. This week alone I've written an essay in German, two in Finnish, one in Swedish and I still have a speech to write and several ones in French.

Thank you for the lovely comments! It's wonderful to hear what you guys have to say.

love, Oona  
xx


	8. Chapter 8: He has a secret with me

"Daryl!" I giggled as he pushed me to a tree and started to kiss my neck, his goatee tickling me. We were standing in the woods by the farmhouse behind few trees and bushes so no one would catch us. I started to twirl a strand of his messy hair as he reached my sweet spot. He smiled against my neck as I pulled his hair gasping. I couldn't believe how fast this angry redneck had turned into my prince charming.

"Hush now, woman." He snarled to my neck as I felt him start to nibble my neck with his teeth. Our little affair, how I liked to put it, had been going on for five heavenly days. I had to admit that I couldn't keep my hands off him and neither did him. We had to be careful though and take things slow since he actually had fractured two of his ribs like I had suspected. It had taken me a while to convince him to go to Hershel but finally he had let the old man check his side. Hershel had banned all physical activity from him including hunting. That made him stay in the camp with me and I was happy about it. A little selfish, I admit, but being with him made me so happy.

I pushed him lightly off my neck and wrapped my arms around his waist burying my face into the crook of his neck. He wrapped his arms around me as well and placed his chin on top of my head.

"Ya smell nice." He said inhaling the scent of my hair. I smiled at him and playfully slapped his chest.

"You're a creep." I responded still hugging him.

"Come on, midget. We need to head back to the camp." He said sliding my arms off around him and taking a hold of my hand. I smiled at our intertwined fingers and followed him out of the woods. As we entered the yard he dropped my hand and we walked to the porch side by side. The last thing we wanted to do was to get people talking about our relationship. Relationship… Is that the right word for this?

"There you are!" Dale exclaimed from the top of his RV while staring at us.

"What's the problem, old man?" Daryl asked as we reached the RV. He looked at us carefully obviously trying to figure something out.

"Rick asked you two to do the supply run. Glenn can't go because of Maggie. He didn't say it straight but I can read people like an open book." He responded sitting on his chair.

"Oh…" I responded sliding slightly away from the man standing next to me. The man who just had his lips on mine.

"Why us?" Daryl asked biting his thumb.

"You are the ones with the quietest weapons, the crossbows." Dale responded still staring at us making me a little nervous. "Carl had told Rick that you have a crossbow too, Alexis." Daryl lifted his brow at me and started to laugh.

"She might have a bow, but she's lackin' some skills." He responded. I huffed and slapped his chest lightly.

"Hey! I'm not that bad!" I responded glancing at Daryl.

"Yeah right. You can take down abnormally big walkers, ten meters wide and another ten meters tall." I slapped his chest again earning a smile from Dale.

"We'll go!" I answered for the both of us. Dale nodded.

"Soon I'll have yer handprint permanently on my chest if ya keep hittin' me like that." He snarled as we started to walk into the house. I gave him a sweet smile before entering the building.

"Just marking my territory." He snorted and followed me.

* * *

"Here's the list of the things we need but take everything you can find." Lori said as she passed me a page of a notebook, which was written full of stuff.

"Okay! I'll do my best." I responded smiling as I picked my knife from the table next to me and strapped it to my thigh. I had borrowed Rick's holster for Merle's gun and then I slung the old crossbow over my shoulder as well as a quiver full of arrows.

"Come on, woman. We don't have all day!" Daryl yelled from the porch. I turned around and patted Lori's shoulder and started to walk out of the house.

"Be careful!" Glenn said from the doorway.

"I'm always, Glenny!" He gave me a roll of his eyes and I returned it with a smile.

"Take care, Alexis!" Andrea called holding up a bottle of water.

"Obviously!" I answered with a smile and hurried after Daryl who was already sitting in his truck. I turned around once again and waved at the rest of the camp and got into the old car.

"Took ya long enough." Daryl stated as he started the engine and left the house. I laughed as I pulled my boots off and placed my legs across the bench. Daryl let go off the steering wheel with his right hand and placed it on my knee giving it a little rub.

"I like you." I said as I stared at the side of his face. He just kept staring at the road not reacting. I guess he didn't hear me. I sighed and pushed the CD player on with my feet. Daryl didn't complain so I reached over and turned the volume up. The familiar tunes of Iron Maiden filled the car. I smiled as I moved and turned my back to his side leaning to him.

"Funny. I always thought you're country kinda guy." I stated as I closed my eyes.

"Well, ya got that wrong, woman. There's a lot ya don't know." He replied wrapping his right arm around my waist and pulling me closer. I smiled at his small display of affection and placed my hand on top of his.

* * *

"We're here." Daryl said as he parked the car in the middle of the main street. I opened my eyes and stood straight taking in the small town. I could see the church, the library, a small shop and several detached houses. I glanced up and down the road making sure everything was clear and got out of the car. Daryl followed right after me jumping down to the ground. He grabbed his crossbow and started to move to the shop motioning me to follow him as quiet as possible. I did as asked and entered the shop after him.

The store had looked small but it was actually quite big. I grabbed few plastic bags from the cash register and started to pack dried food and cans as fast as I could, as Daryl made sure we were alone. I heard a whoosh and a quiet thud, knowing Daryl had taken down a walker. I got another plastic bag and started to fill it with canned peaches and pears as well as pasta sauce and ketchup.

I reached the other aisle packing a bag full of macaroni, rice and instant soups and sauces. I glanced at Daryl who was standing on guard behind me pointing the crossbow here and there; ready to kill everything and everyone who could mean any harm.

The next aisle was full of clothing and other supplies including pillows and blankets. I took everything I supposed was needed and we walked further into the store.

* * *

Thirty minutes later we had left the store and dumped the carrier bags to the bed of the truck. We were now walking to the pharmacy. Daryl was leading the way again and I was following him carefully. There was no movement around us and I let my guard down. It was a huge mistake.

"Fuck!" I yelled as my leg got caught to some staves on the ground and I fell down. Daryl spun around looking really worried. He saw it was just my usual clumsiness so he offered his hand and got me up. He pried the door of the pharmacy open with the butt of his crossbow and let me in and slipped in right after me closing the door again. He walked around the small room and found out quickly that we were the only ones in there.

"Let me see." He whispered as he placed his weapon by the cash register and lifted me to the counter. He started to roll up the leg of my pants and soon discovered a nasty looking scratch on my knee. "Damn…" He said as he got some antiseptic from one of the shelves and started to pour in to the cut.

"I can do it myself." I said as he started to go through the shelf looking for cotton pads and Band-Aids.

"No. Yer my woman and it's my duty to make sure yer alright." He responded as he got back to me and started to work on my knee, wrapping it up carefully.

"Really?" I asked looking at him through my lashes. He smirked but didn't speak. He just leaned forward and kissed me roughly nearly knocking off the counter. I gasped and grabbed his arms to steady myself. He reluctantly let go of me and leaned his forehead to mine.

"I think we should…" He started. I knew what he meant.

"Yeah." I responded. He moved a little and let me slide off the counter. "You take the painkillers and antibiotics. I'll check everything else." I added as I picked up my satchel bag and walked to one side of the room as Daryl walked to the other. I packed as soon as possible because it was already getting dark. Getting back to the farm in one piece in the dark would be hard and I didn't want to risk it.

I stood up and walked to the other aisle and grabbed everything I could including tampons, wet wipes, condoms... Condoms. I dropped the pack to the ground and stood up. I glanced behind my back and stared at Daryl who caught my eyes. I blushed and ducked down as I saw him smirk knowingly. That's the moment I noticed that right above me was a huge sign saying 'birth control'. I cursed under my breath and grabbed the pack again this time stuffing it into my bag and grabbing a smaller baggage and put it to my back pocket. I bit my lip as I stood up and walked to the last aisle finding gauzes and other objects Hershel had written to his list.

I walked to the middle of the room and sat down to the counter again and watched as Daryl went through some bottles and either put them into his bag or dropped them to the floor. I swung my legs lazily in the air and dropped the satchel to the floor. Daryl turned around and smiled at me. His smile was something I had grown to love very much during the time I'd known him. It was a rarity which was specially meant for my eyes only.

"You ready soon?" I asked as I leaned to my arms and crossed my legs.

"Yeah. Just this shelf and we can head back." He responded and soon he came to me, giving me a slow kiss and pulled me down. I smiled at him and followed as he walked to the main entrance of the building making sure that the coast was clear.

"Come on, midget." He said as we walked to the truck of his. We both got in and he tried to start the engine but nothing happened. "What the hell?" I muttered as he tried again but still nothing happened. "Goddamn piece of shit!" He yelled as he slammed his palm to the steering wheel.

"Hey, hey, hey!" I called as I placed my hand to his arm. He glanced at me but said nothing. "This seems like there's something wrong with the battery. We need to find a new battery or a new car. I'm pretty sure that I saw a gas station few miles down the road. Maybe we could go there?" I suggested as I started to get out of the car.

"No! I'm pretty sure yer an idiot. It's dark soon. It's a suicide." He responded taking a hold of my arm. I slumped back to the seat and closed the door.

"What are we going to do now then?" I asked staring out of the windshield.

"We need to check if one of those cars has a similar battery." He responded as he got out of the car and started to walk to a van which looked quite horrible and a small Nissan which didn't look that great either.

"Okay…" I called even though I knew he couldn't hear me.

* * *

We had found a right battery and now only if it worked. I lifted it out of the van and started to carry it to the truck. Daryl hurried over and took the heavy battery from me and carried it to his car. I got to work and started to get out the broken one.

"Walkers!" Daryl whispered loudly as he grabbed my arm and yanked me down with him. I reached back to him as he scanned the area. "Come!" He continued as he pulled us up and started to drag me with him as he ran to the store. "Run faster!" He yelled as the walkers spotted us and started to follow us, their jaws hanging open and sickening smell surrounding them. He slid into the store and pulled me with him and shut the door as quickly as possible and started to carry stuff in front of the door so the geeks couldn't get in. I started to help him and soon the door started to look secured.

"No, no, no! We cannot stay here any longer. We need to find a way out!" I begged taking a hold of Daryl's shirt.

"Listen, there are shitloads of those dumb fucks outside and it is just matter of time when they smash down the window." He responded placing his palm to the small of my back. "How about if I go and grab few blankets, pillows and a mattress and drag them to the manager's office? It had secure locks, only two small windows and a possible escape route." He continued looking down at me. I bit my lip as I dropped my eyes to the floor. I nodded yes and let go of him shirt.

"Good girl." Daryl responded kissing the top of my head. "Come help me or go to the office."

"I'll go fetch some food." I answered pointing to the aisle on our right.

"Okay, do that. Be right back." He replied letting go of me and walked to the department, which had beds. I stared after him but then rushed to the canned foods. I grabbed few of my favorites and hoped that Daryl liked them too. I picked up a few lonely bottles of mineral water and took everything to the manager's office.

Daryl hadn't yet brought anything to the room and I was getting worried. Then someone grabbed me from behind and spun me around. I nearly screamed but after I saw it was just Daryl I relaxed.

"Help me?" He asked as he practically dragged me out of the room. _Like I had a choice…_

We walked to the other side of the store and then I saw a small double bed that had several pillows and blankets piled on top of it.

"Take this side and I'll take the other." He said as he walked to the other side of the bed.

"But how are we getting this in?" I questioned but still lifted the end of the bed.

"The doorway actually has double doors in case you didn't notice." He said as we started to drag the surprisingly light bed towards the office.

"We need some light." He commented as we reached the office and placed the bed near the furthest wall.

"I'll go see what I can find. I think I saw some candles there." I responded as I started to leave the room.

"Wait!" Daryl called taking a hold of my arm like he always did. "I'll come with you."

We walked for a while in complete silence. We had found some lighters and candles. I had gotten toothpaste and two toothbrushes and now we were looking for spare clothes to sleep in and for tomorrow.

"This one?" I asked as I picked up and oversized t-shirt from the sales basket. Daryl shook his head in disapproving his hands on his hips. "This one?" I asked holding another t-shirt in front of me. He smirked and shook his head again. I furrowed my brows as I started to rummage through the basket. A strong pair of familiar arms slipped around my waist and Daryl kissed my shoulder. He pulled me up from the basket and guided me forward the aisle.

"This one." He said simply as he stopped in front of a pale pink baby doll nightdress.

"Oh no, no!" I told him as he tightened his grip around me.

"Oh yeah…" He whispered into my ear. I couldn't help but blush and it didn't go unnoticed by him.

"Okay." I responded grabbing the dress from the rack. It was actually beautiful. It wasn't one of those that showed the bust or stomach too much. It was actually really cute and girly. "Does this mean that I can decide what you're wearing? I was thinking about a mankini," I asked smiling as I turned around in his arms. He shook his head once again and let go of me.

"Go get changed," was his only respond before he walked off leaving me alone in the aisle. I grabbed a pair of matching underwear and a robe from the shelves and rushed to the office that we were using as a bedroom. I was nervous. Daryl was acting like a horny teenager who had seen a woman for the first time. _I'm definitely not the one to think that way._ I told myself as I started to strip my clothes after I closed the door. I put on the underwear and the nightdress and covered myself with the robe and let my hair down. I grabbed some wet wipes and wiped away the dirt I had put on during the day. I brushed my hair and teeth, lit up few candles to see where I was walking and got into the bed. It was almost like the paradise.

I heard a light knock on the door and sat up. I allowed Daryl to enter. He had changed his clothes outside. He looked almost unrecognizable in clean clothes and his face wiped clean.

"How come you can wear long pants and a t-shirt when I'm really underdressed?" I asked as he walked closer, grabbing the bedcover and yanking it off me. "Hey!" I exclaimed but a rough kiss quieted me down. He got on top of me, his knee in between mine, and his left hand pressed to the mattress on my left side and his right one on the right side of my neck. I moaned as his hand travelled down my side. He smirked to the kiss and started to kiss the side of my neck, making his was downwards as his right hand found the knot of the robe and pulled it open. He stopped kissing me and sat up, his eyes roaming shameless on my half naked body. I blushed under his eyes and stiffened as he laid his finger on my ribcage.

"What's wrong?" He asked as he lifted his hand from me.

"I just… I haven't… You know?" I replied turning crimson.

"What? No way!" He responded in disbelief. I turned even redder and his expression softened. "We don't have to do this if ya don't want to."

"Oh, I do." I whispered as a smile formed to his lips that were soon covering mine again.

* * *

**Author's note**

This chapter was getting a little too long and steamy so I decided to cut it in half, sorry guys! Next chapter might be a little smutty, but hey, admit it; a little smut now and then is completely okay… At least in my opinion!

I love reading your comments so I want to activate all of you! This story has quite a lot of alerts and many people have added this as one of their favorites yet only a fraction of those people comment. Come on guys, I want to know everything you have in your mind! Even the negative things!

-Oona


	9. Chapter 9: He made me his

Daryl's lips caressed mine softer than I had imagined they could. His hands were now on my hips and he had wrapped one of my legs around his waist. He groaned into the kiss making me writhe under him. I could feel his excitement growing in his pants as his hips pushed into mine. I moaned at the friction it caused and tightened the hold of my arms around his neck and pulled him closer, urging him to kiss me deeper. He took my cue and pressed his lips tighter to mine. His hand started to wander down my leg as he spread my legs further apart and got in between them completely. His hand traveled higher and higher until his fingers brushed against the fabric of my panties. I inhaled quickly as a wave of pleasure washed over me, forcing me to close my eyes and arch my back. Daryl smirked as he broke the kiss starting to slide down my body pushing up the hem of the nightdress.

"Daryl," I said, my voice breathy and nearly inaudible.

"Shush, woman," he snarled as he hooked his fingers around the waistband of my panties and started to slide them down. I bit my lip and slammed my hand on top of his as I realized what he was planning to do.

"No." I whispered as I sat up half way and leant to my arms. He slowly got up and pushed me back down covering my mouth with a kiss.

"Please?" He asked after he broke the kiss. His breath felt warm against my neck and my eyes fluttered shut again. I could feel my heart racing in my chest and a moment of irrationality took over me as I nodded and felt him slide down again. He grabbed the hem of the baby doll dress and yanked it off me, leaving me only into my panties and bra. I gasped as he kissed between my breasts and started to make his way down south kissing everything he could reach. He dipped his tongue into my bellybutton forcing me to sigh and arch my back again.

This time he pulled my panties down completely and started to tease me with his fingers. I whimpered as he leant forward and kissed my collarbone. I sank my hand into his hair and started to tug it as one of his fingers pushed into me and he started to pump it slowly in and out. I gasped and jolted at the sensation he caused and I could see him smile at me. He was obviously enjoying my reaction judging by the look on his face, the fire in his eyes and the devilish grin of his.

"No more! I can't…" I gasped as he added another finger and quickened the pace. My breath hitched as his thumb started to rub my sensitive spot. Not long after I grabbed his arm and the dimly lit room started to spin in my eyes and shattered into pieces. It felt like instead of the bed I was floating on the clouds.

As I started to get back into my normal senses, I saw Daryl standing by the bed taking off his pants. The pants fell to the ground and he straddled me and attacked my lips with a feverish kiss and pulled me to my knees, my chest to his, and started to fiddle with my bra. He managed to undo the clasp and pulled the bra down and threw it next to the nightdress. He slid his rough palms down my sides to my waist making chills run down my spine. His mouth covered my left nipple as he sucked it lightly. I leaned forward and laid my head on his shoulder and started to reach to the hem of his shirt. He suddenly grabbed my wrist and pulled my hand away. I pulled away from him staring at him surprised.

"Don't do that." He snarled as he started to grab my waist again. I pushed him away and stared at him.

"I want to see you." I responded trying to lift the hem of his shirt

"No!" He argued and took a hold of both of my wrists.

"I've seen you shirtless before. Now take the damn shirt off or you're not going to get laid!" I snapped. He stared at me for few seconds looking amused and then pulled his shirt off and threw it next to the rest of the clothes.

"Impatient little thing ain't ya?" He asked as he pushed me down to the pillows. He reached to his jeans and pulled out a condom. I placed my hand on the band of his boxers and started to pull them down slowly. He groaned after I freed him. I bit my lip and stared at his hardened member. I had no comparison but I'd say it was surely big enough.

"Maybe a little." I responded as I reached out and started to stroke him slowly not taking my eyes off his face. His eyelids fluttered close as I gripped him harder quickening my pace. He leant back and covered my hand with his.

"Enough…" he groaned as he pushed my hand away from him. He wrapped his arms around my waist and slowly lowered me to my back. He lay next to me and shifted around a little, probably putting on the condom. He snaked his left arm under my neck as his right arm lifted me partially on top of him. He tilted my hips a little, letting me slide to my side so my butt was touching him and lifted my right thigh higher, allowing him to have room to move closer.

"Ya ready?" he whispered into my ear before he kissed my neck and started to play with my clitoris with his hand. I couldn't say anything so I just nodded and felt him move behind me.

His fingers were still playing with me, trying to distract me from the upcoming pain. I felt him start to slide slowly into me. I cried out loud as he spread my walls without stopping. I grabbed his hand on my left and dig my nails into his palm. He hissed and stopped, burying his head to my neck, whispering soothing words into my ear while occasionally nibbling my neck. I started to relax more and he took the opportunity to fill me completely, not leaning any spare space in between us.

He started to rock slowly never moving his hands away from between my legs. His former roughness and angriness had been replaced with softness and caring. After each thrust of his hips I started to enjoy the burning sensation more and more, until the feeling got overwhelming and another wave of pleasure was about to swipe over my body. He could feel the sudden hitch of my breath and started to pound into me harder, faster, stronger.

My second orgasm was a lot more forceful. I gasped and wrapped my arm around his neck as he kept on going and soon let go inside of me, his length throbbing and jolting, making me gasp again.

The few following minutes were dreamlike for me. I felt content, lightheaded in a positive way, blissful and extremely tired. Like there was nothing else in the world, just Daryl, the bed and I. I had no control over my body and I just lay there as he slid out of me, wrapped his arms around me and turned me around so I had my head on his chest. I closed my eyes and started to fall asleep listening to his racing heartbeat that was slowing down back to normal as the minutes passed. His breathing started to slow down too. Soon we were both sleeping safe and sound, like there was nothing wrong with the world.

* * *

When I woke up I was alone. The blanket was tugged over my naked body and it was obviously done by Daryl. The complete quietness surrounding me made me feel uneasy. There was nothing. I got up from the warmth of the bed reluctantly and decided to put on my clothes. A blush crept to my face as I saw the bundled clothes by the bed. I remembered his hands on my body, his breath on my neck and his grunts by next to my ear. I unzipped my jeans and threw on a t-shirt I had found from the store yesterday. I took my gun from the floor and strapped it to my thigh. It was the only weapon I had since I had left my crossbow and knife to the truck. I shook my head at my recklessness and left the room.

I couldn't find Daryl anywhere. The store was completely quiet and eerie. I was starting panic when I saw nothing that indicated that he's still in the store. My heart started to pound faster. _He couldn't have left me, right?" _I though to myself as I turned around and headed to the entrance of the store. I tried to peek through the tinted glass but saw nothing but red. I shoved the door open and sighed in relief. Daryl was standing by his truck trying to attach the battery to his bellowed car.

"Mornin'," he stated simply as I walked to him and leant to the car. I reached to kiss his cheek.

"I though you left." I said staring at the side of his face. He turned around and had a puzzled look on his face.

"Why'd ya think so?" He asked as he continued to attach few wires and then closed the hood of the car.

"I don't know. I just felt like it." I told him as he stepped closer.

"I ain't leavin' my woman." He said looking serious. I reached to his face and pulled him to me, giving him a quick kiss. "We need to leave now. I've got everythin' ready. I was just waitin' for ya to wake up. We'll eat at the camp," he stated as he opened the driver's side of the car. I mirrored his action and walked to the passenger's side and got in. He was already sitting on his seat, holding his arm up. I smiled at his gesture and moved closer to him, leaning back to his side and propping my legs to the bench. Daryl snorted as he wrapped his arm around my waist. The only thing apart from the sound of the motor was "midget."

* * *

When we entered the farm everyone was running around. All of the members of the camp were shocked.

"I am so relieved!" I heard Carol say as she threw her arms around my shoulders and started to cry. I smiled awkwardly and patted her back. Lori detached the sobbing woman from me, taking her place.

"Good to see you both," Rick said as he nodded his at us. Daryl nodded back at him and I gave him a small smile.

"What too you two so long?" Glenn asked as he pulled me to his arms and kissed the top of my head. I could feel Daryl's glare on my back, aimed at Glenn. I blushed once again as the images of last night floated into my mind.

"Car problems and walkers," Daryl responded as he started to unload the truck.

I felt bad. Everyone was making sure that I was fine and that I wasn't sick or hungry. No one paid attention to Daryl who was now sitting in front of his tent doing something with his arrows. He was used to it that people ignored him, he preferred it that way but still it was heartbreaking to see him that way. I suppose he felt my eyes on him as he turned his head and saw me staring at him. I turned my head quickly but didn't miss the sly smile he gave me. Nowadays crimson and beet were the two words that described me the best, the one true distinctive feature of mine, so I felt my cheeks turn red again. I snapped out of my inner monologue as Beth called Daryl and I to have some food.

I walked quickly into the house and sat by the dinner table. Daryl took the seat facing me and thanked Beth who laid the already filled bowls of soup for us. I thanked her as well and picked up my spoon and started to eat it. The silence between the three of us was uncomfortable. Daryl and I had so much to talk about but neither one of us found the courage to say it out loud as the young woman was standing at the doorway looking at us.

Daryl wolfed down his soup and started to get up. Beth walked over and retrieved the bowl and walked back to the kitchen.

"Come to my tent in 30," he whispered into my ear, his stubble tickling my neck. I smiled as I placed my right hand on his face, tracing his jawline.

"Okay," I mouthed as he backed leaving me alone.

* * *

The yard was empty as I stepped out of the farmhouse. I had actually showered and changed to a clean new blouse I had grabbed yester day. I walked across the camp side to the one lonely tent separate from the others. I didn't bother to make myself noticed so I just started to unzip the tent.

As soon as the tent was opened big enough my hand got grabbed and I found myself on my back on the floor. I tried to suck in a breath because of the unexpected collision with the ground, but I couldn't. Daryl's mouth covered mine in nanoseconds and his palm found its way to my butt squeezing it lightly. My hands slid to his chest as I started to tug his shirt.

"What's this?" He asked as his hands reached my back pocket. _The condoms!_ He pulled the worn pack from my pocket and took a look at it. A smug smiled formed to his lips as he pulled me up from the ground to my knees with him and placed his hands on my hips.

"I want ya so bad and yer little stunt right there ain't helpin', sugar," he whispered into my neck as he gave it a little bite. I gasped as his grasp tightened around me and found my ass again. It was obvious that he was that type of a guy who like it rough and dirty, not gently and carefully like yesterday. It made me wonder, how come he wanted to get involved with me, to have sex with me... Maybe his into corrupting people?

"We can't… They'll hear," I stated as he started to nibble my ear and lower me back down to my back.

"I know, darlin', he groaned as he leaned over me and started to unbutton my shirt one button at time. He held his forehead to mine and looked down revealing the same bra from last night. He smiled before he kissed the top of my breast sucking it lightly giving it a small hickey. _So redneck_ I thought as he sucked again making me whimper. He pulled away and looked at his masterpiece.

"Mine," he stated as he started to button my shirt back up. I glanced up at him and wrapped my arms around his neck, pulling him back down.

"Yours," I responded before kissing his lips.

* * *

**Author's note**

Two days late but here it is, the smut!  
I know, I know, it sucks but I couldn't write any better and I already promised you guys so… Sorry!

Writing Daryl in a relationship and trying to keep him the way he is in the show is so difficult. I mean, I bet he'd be overprotective over his woman, making sure she was his and his only but at the same time he has to have his distance because he's broken. You know what I mean? Even though Norman himself considers Daryl as inexperienced etc. I wanted to make him more sexual and also for him to hold back because she is so much younger and more innocent.


End file.
